Source: Facebook

Curt Doolittle updated his status.

AGENCY, VIA POSITIVA AND VIA NEGATIVA
Again, whether we are talking the existing definition in social science, or my extended definition in natural law, Agency refers to the absence of impediment, the same way that truth refers to the absence of falsehood. We do not know what the unknown impediments and falsehoods consists of we only know that they are removable.

As such:
One can grant authority (permission in your stead).
One can delegate (assign tasks and responsibilities).
One can educate (remove ignorance)
One can physically emotionally and mentally train (give discipline)
One can discover (produce new knowledge with which to educate)
One can remove impediments (govern or rule)

So again, via positiva the sculptor constructs (justifies) with clay, or via negativa removes (criticizes) the stone.

The scientist via positiva creates an opportunity for knowledge( hypothesis), and via negativa performs criticism (theory), then submits it to the market for further testing (survival)

Just as via positive the abrahamist (sophist) via positiva constructs an excuse (Lies) with Pilpul to cause a moral hazard, or via negativa evades (Lies ) with Critique to destroy a moral good.

The truth is created by a market competition between via positiva and via negativa. A sophism is created by the avoidance of market competition in both the real (physical) and ideal (imaginary) worlds.

WHAT KIND OF IMPEDIMENTS?

Well, we don’t know what future limitation we might encounter, but we are impeded (limited) in mental capacity, mindfulness, knowledge, physical ability, resources, time, social, political, our physical world, and the laws of nature.

So imagination, thought, independence from emotions, impulses and biases, knowledge, models of knowledge, the rate of knowledge accumulated, physical size, strength, speed, perception, health, cellular degeneration, biological composition, energy, physical resources, time, limits of imposed upon us by others, and the limits of controlling of others, and the limited abilities of others, and the limitations of the environment and the physical universe.