This paper is an attempt to suggest a thought-provoking theory about the actions of human beings. With this aim, this paper refers to Alfred Gell‘s book, Art and Agency (AA hereinafter), especially focusing on his concepts of ‘agency’ and ‘index’. Because ‘index’ is a concept derived from C. S. Peirce’s semiotics, Gell’s theory may also imply an applicability of Peirce’s idea, although Gell’s concept of ‘index’ is not necessarily compatible with Peirce’s.

In Gell’s terminology, ‘index’ is an object that mediates ‘agency’. He argues that ‘agency’ can be attributed to not only persons but also such things as the statues of gods, so long as they are seen as initiating causal sequences caused by some sort of intention (AA, p.16). Utilizing these concepts, Gell puts forward the ‘anthropology of art’. He argues that art objects should be anthropologically examined in order to grasp their ‘behaviour’ (AA, p.11) in the context of social relations. Gell’s concept of ‘the extended mind’, which is also the title for the last chapter of AA, is especially worth remarking on. According to this idea, artworks (and artefacts) and persons can be regarded analogously as ‘indexes’ embodying the collective consciousness of social agents. This could also suggest a contemporary applicability of Peirce’s semiotics.