nonagent

Nonagent or non-agent is a term used to describe entities or systems that lack agency—the capacity to act autonomously, make decisions, or pursue goals. It is often employed to contrast with agents, which are considered capable of intentional action. The label is applied across disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics, and computer science, to distinguish active, goal-directed behavior from passive existence or fixed responses.

In philosophy and cognitive science, a nonagent is typically an object or process that does not initiate actions or act with intention. In linguistics, non-agent often contrasts with agent as a semantic role: in sentences that foreground a patient or theme, the performer of the action may be omitted or deemphasized, effectively treating the participant as non-agentive. Some theories also categorize certain verbs or constructions as agentive or non-agentive.

In technology and AI, the distinction is practical: agent-based systems are designed to operate autonomously, choosing actions to achieve goals. Nonagents, by contrast, lack such autonomy and generally follow predefined rules, scripts, or respond to inputs without self-directed decision-making. In data modeling or simulation, nonagents are passive entities whose state changes only in response to agents or environmental factors.

Examples commonly cited as nonagents include inanimate objects like rocks, natural processes such as weather systems, and software tasks that run on schedule without adaptive decision logic. The term’s usefulness varies by context, and some disciplines prefer more precise descriptors such as inanimate, passive, or non-autonomous.

See also: Agent, Agency, Agent-based modeling, Passive voice, Semantic role, Autonomy.