New Books Network Mercedes Valmisa, "All Things Act" (Oxford UP, 2025)
Jan 13, 2026
Mercedes Valmisa, a philosopher and professor at Gettysburg College, delves into the collective nature of agency in her work, All Things Act. She challenges the view of agency as an individual capacity, arguing instead that it arises from networks of both human and nonhuman actors. Valmisa discusses the emergent nature of intentions and powers, emphasizing their contextual dependence. Her insights on Wu Wei highlight non-coercive self-organization, while the concept of non-cruel optimism advocates for shared responsibility in collective actions.
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Agency Is Distributed Across Networks
- Agency emerges from networks of human and nonhuman actors rather than from an inner faculty.
- Objects like language, tools, institutions, and environments actively shape intentions and outcomes.
Writing A Book Shows Distributed Agency
- Valmisa uses writing a book to illustrate distributed agency, listing language, tools, institutions, and material conditions.
- She shows that intentions and outcomes depend on a network, not just an individual's inner will.
Start With Relations, Not Isolated Agents
- Philosophy of action should align with relational and processual shifts across sciences.
- Start from the world as dynamic and ask how agency emerges within interactions and processes.
