Autonomy
some argue ___________ are the only ones among us that appreciate the sobering implications and true meaning of absolute freedom
Anarchists
Concerned with the moral implications of what we doHas to do with consciously, and freely, limiting oneself to upholding moral principles and doing "the right thing"
Autonomy
"Autonomy cannot be identical to liberty"
Dworkin
Includes "some ability both to alter one's preferences and to make them effective in one's actions and, indeed, to make them effective because one has reflected upon them and adopted them as one's own" Referring to our singular capacity in the animal world to live and act as moral agents
Dworkin
We shouldn't' assume that simply "retaining control" of one's actions is a key part of autonomy, since there are all sorts of cases in which we freely give up control in the interests of other values.
Dworkin
___________ warns us to resist our Western tendency of putting autonomy "on a pedestal" which is heightened by the value of self-sufficiency
Dworkin
Truly autonomous people, "define their nature, give meaning and coherence to heir lives, and take responsibility for the kind of person they are
Dworkin on autonomy
Four closely related meanings: The "capacity to govern oneself" The "actual conditions" of self-government The ideal of virtue stemming from that state The "sovereign authority" to govern oneself
Feinberg on autonomy
Usually serves as a signpost for the much more complex concept of autonomyMay be solely interested in which restrictions are just or unjust
Freedom/ Liberty
our "dual" moral imperatives of "justice" and "solidarity" Every morality has to serve TWO purposes at once; meaning... We must honor the ideas of equal treatment and give due respect to every individual while recognizing our dependence on our relation with others as a central value
Habermas
____________ says, "People experience free will. They have the sense they are free" (Neurological specialist) "Free will does exist, but it's a perception"
Hallet
free will as a myth Our capacity for reason rules our passionate & emotional selves Desire or repulsion, not reason, drive our conduct
Hume
"Laws of Reason" invited us to accept a "social contract" that gave some institutions the power to impose restrictions
John Locke
We are willing to give up some of our liberty to make the conditions of our lives less dangerous and more predictable
John Locke
laws of reason: invite us to accept a social contract that gives some institutions power to impose restrictions on us
John Locke
we are willing to give up some freedoms to make our lives more safe and predictable
John Locke
Our search for truth will be thwarted for lack of a viable "marketplace of ideas"
John Stuart Mill
Unless individuals are allowed to live autonomously and unless each of us is allowed to pursue "our own good in our own way" (Cahn, 2002, p. 933), civilization as we know it will likely not advance;
John Stuart Mill
there would be little hope for the development of spontaneity, genius, originality, or even moral change
John Stuart Mill
He was explicit in claiming that "freedom" is the source of all value in his moral philosophy
Kant on Autonomy
When Kant talks of freedom he is usually describing what has come to be know as
Moral Autonomy
_________ reflects what's in our nature That humans, having a rational will and considered "ends" in themselves and never to be uses as a mere means by others, are indeed obligated only to obey their own wills A rational will has absolute value - it is an end in itself
Moral Law
Aristotle: The law of the polis cannot limit itself merely "a guarantor of men's rights against one another," but must "devote itself to the end of encouraging goodness"
Natural law theory
absolute freedom is something to which we all should aspireand that the legal and moral justifications for most civil and political restrictions are either suspect or entirely without merit
Nozick & Rothbard
Autonomous action refers to people "acting from principles that they would acknowledge under conditions that best express their nature as free and equal rational beings"
Rawls
Cautioned against the temptations of unrestrained freedom
Rousseau
People "have no other means of self-preservation than to form by aggregation a sum of forces...and to make them work in concert"
Rousseau
Warned that humanity would surely "perish" unless we bound ourselves together;
Rousseau
Concerns the welfare of socially connected individuals who are ultimately linked in a shared form of life
Solidarity (Habermas on autonomy)
Autonomy needs two things to be possible:"Requires that the subject's beliefs be coherent and consistent. . .Their coherence must be the outcome of a continuing process of critical adjustment within a system of beliefs in which it is possible to appraise one sector by canons drawn from another"
Stanley
The truly autonomous person is one who always retains control over her decisions and actions.
Substantive Independence
a person must see himself as sovereign in deciding what to believe and in weighing competing reasons for action. An autonomous person cannot accept without independent consideration the judgment of others as to what he should believe or what he should
True Autonomy
Freedom Vs. Autonomy freedom: property of human action (absence of restraint) Autonomy: property of preference
john christman
______________ insist that it is humans' nature to live as free as we please, and we inevitably lose much more than we might gain in restricting that freedom
libertarian theorists