<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >

    5. bilbao, fuertes, and guilbert distinguish four senses of autonomy

  1. Autonomy as self-choice (autoelección) . This sense covers the negative sense of freedom, freedom from obstacles to pursue my preferences and wishes. Mill gives voice to this conception of autonomy in his book, On Liberty. (See his classical defense of freedom of speech.) Autonomy in this sense is based on the removal of obstacles that impede my exercise of freedom. Thus, the right to an education is characterized as removing obstacles to my becoming educated; it also gives me access to means of becoming educated. What I learn, the content of my education, is left open to determination by the individual; Mill sets forth an indefinite and wide range of options for exercising "freedom to."
  2. Autonomy as self-legislation (autolegislación) . As described above this is the Kantian sense in which individuals exercise the capability of giving the law to themselves. This includes a moral aspect or dimension: we discipline our individual lives by developing rules to guide our own lives that can also be extended to all others. We conceive of ourselves and others as living within what Kant terms a "kingdom of ends" where all, because they possess certain human capacities, are entitled to being treated always as ends and never merely as means. This sense of autonomy is the one most explicitly tied to respect.
  3. Autonomy as authenticity (autenticidad) . This sense of autonomy recognizes the extent to which the individual is influenced by his or her social and natural environment. For example, the philosopher F.H. Bradley carries out a thought experiment based on removing everything English from the English person and asking what is left over after this abstraction. Removing language, cultural norms, experiences generated interacting with others and rendering the individual an isolated social atom deprives the individual of all determining content. Thus, Bradley terms the remainder an “I know not what” residuum; emptied of all social content, the individual becomes merely an indeterminate placeholder. This sense of autonomy starts from the fact that we are social beings who are shaped (enabled and constrained) by our social and natural context. It then shows how we find ourselves as individuals in this social experience and then act responsively: (a) I can criticize my social being and reject the social forces that work to constrain and channel my actions; or I can accept or acquiesce to these forces and choose to define myself by loyalty to my social context. Either way, I recognize myself in this social space and take responsibility for it by choosing my response. Much of this approach is captured by Existentialism; (b) This can also be understood in terms of moral development. For Kohlberg, the conventional levels of moral development are characterized by individuals making decisions based on what others think or advocate. For example, one conforms to others and bases one's choices on what is recommended by "authorities"; (c) One reaches post-conventional levels of moral development by questioning authority and other external sources of moral conduct. This is purchased through the achieving of critical distance by exercising the skills of moral imagination like multiple framing of one's situation or by role-taking to gain insight into the perspective of others.
  4. Autonomy as self-decision (autodecisión) . This sense is closely related to the previous sense of authenticity in that it involves recognizing oneself as embedded in a natural and social context, and then taking responsibility for one’s subsequent choices, habits, and character as made within this context. In a manner different from Bilbao, Fuentes, and Guilbert, I will characterize self-decision along the lines of self-realization following Taylor, Aristotle, and Bradley: (a) According to Taylor, one finds oneself in a social and natural situation through "strong evaluation." Here one questions one’s fundamental commitments (those that constitute one’s identity) in a radical and fundamental way. Taylor characterizes strong evaluation as a hermeneutical act where one uses one part of one’s self to attend to and question the other parts. (b) Aristotle also sets forth a self-realization ethics. Virtue (=arête) exercises and realizes those capabilities which are most fully human. By exercising virtue, we realize our natures (and our selves) and become fully happy (=eudaimonia). (I have inserted the Greek words, arête and eudaimonia to show that Aristotle’s concepts are only partially translatable.) (c) Bradley puts this differently. I realize myself by taking up a social station within society and performing its attached duties. Bradley makes use of an organic metaphor to characterize his version of self-realization. By taking up a social station and performing its duties, the individual becomes a functioning organism within society which is now viewed as a social or moral organism. The heart pumps blood throughout the body; by performing its function it also helps the body as organim to stay alive. Individuals by performing the duties of the moral organism help keep this moral order alive and properly functioning. (How do engineers and business persons contribute to the social good?)

Questions & Answers

I'm interested in biological psychology and cognitive psychology
Tanya Reply
what does preconceived mean
sammie Reply
physiological Psychology
Nwosu Reply
How can I develope my cognitive domain
Amanyire Reply
why is communication effective
Dakolo Reply
Communication is effective because it allows individuals to share ideas, thoughts, and information with others.
effective communication can lead to improved outcomes in various settings, including personal relationships, business environments, and educational settings. By communicating effectively, individuals can negotiate effectively, solve problems collaboratively, and work towards common goals.
it starts up serve and return practice/assessments.it helps find voice talking therapy also assessments through relaxed conversation.
miss
Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the person begins to jumb back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature changes. Identify the types of learning, if it is classical conditioning identify the NS, UCS, CS and CR. If it is operant conditioning, identify the type of consequence positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment
Wekolamo Reply
please i need answer
Wekolamo
because it helps many people around the world to understand how to interact with other people and understand them well, for example at work (job).
Manix Reply
Agreed 👍 There are many parts of our brains and behaviors, we really need to get to know. Blessings for everyone and happy Sunday!
ARC
A child is a member of community not society elucidate ?
JESSY Reply
Isn't practices worldwide, be it psychology, be it science. isn't much just a false belief of control over something the mind cannot truly comprehend?
Simon Reply
compare and contrast skinner's perspective on personality development on freud
namakula Reply
Skinner skipped the whole unconscious phenomenon and rather emphasized on classical conditioning
war
explain how nature and nurture affect the development and later the productivity of an individual.
Amesalu Reply
nature is an hereditary factor while nurture is an environmental factor which constitute an individual personality. so if an individual's parent has a deviant behavior and was also brought up in an deviant environment, observation of the behavior and the inborn trait we make the individual deviant.
Samuel
I am taking this course because I am hoping that I could somehow learn more about my chosen field of interest and due to the fact that being a PsyD really ignites my passion as an individual the more I hope to learn about developing and literally explore the complexity of my critical thinking skills
Zyryn Reply
good👍
Jonathan
and having a good philosophy of the world is like a sandwich and a peanut butter 👍
Jonathan
generally amnesi how long yrs memory loss
Kelu Reply
interpersonal relationships
Abdulfatai Reply
What would be the best educational aid(s) for gifted kids/savants?
Heidi Reply
treat them normal, if they want help then give them. that will make everyone happy
Saurabh
Got questions? Join the online conversation and get instant answers!
Jobilize.com Reply

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, Business, government, and society. OpenStax CNX. Mar 04, 2014 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col10560/1.6
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'Business, government, and society' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask