agency

n. Agents are actors who shape their environments, affect their surroundings, and simply do things. According to Kant, they possess autonomy, the power to exert their internal will rather than to be controlled by external forces. Dworkin argues that as self-governing entities, their behavior is not determined by external forces such as luck or another person's will.
Philosophers often characterize autonomous agency as the competence to articulate goals and intentions that are truly one's own. Mackenzie and Stoljar identify various requirements for autonomous agency, for example:

• Rationality: According to Taylor, a rational agent knows, plans, and acts deliberately and intentionally.
• Self-control: Frankfurt states that agents must have mastery over desires (e.g., the impulse for alcohol) that conflict with their core values (a basic goal such as living a happy and productive life).
• Self-trust and self-reflection: According to Sandel, self-reflection enables people to "work out" their basic values such that they will not simply act on impulse.

A person who fulfills these conditions has intentions that flow from an authentic self - rather than from impulse, weakness, ignorance, or incompetence.   - TM, JS