“Autonomy”? Why wasting time with such a philosophical notion, such a ridiculous pretence typical of the arrogant ambitions
of “Artificial Intelligence”? Is this a real scientific (and interesting) problem, or just “blah, blah”? Is this a relevant
practical, technical issue? The answers to these questions are not obvious at all. Consider for example the animated discussion
on the agents-list initiated by the following stimulating and radical intervention:
Our theory of autonomy based on dependence/reliance on other agents for some lacking resource and on the idea of “agents in
the loop of other agents” is rather close to Hexmoor’s and to Barber’s view (this volume). Such a convergence is a good premise
for the development of a shared ontology and a good operational definition.