Autonomy

In everyday life, we generally assume that we can make our own decisions on matters which concern our own lives. We assume that a life followed only according to decisions taken by other people, against our will, cannot be a well-lived life – we assume, in other words, that we are and should be autonomous. However, it is equally true that many aspects of our lives are not chosen freely: this is true of social relations and commitments but also of all those situations we simply seem to stumble into, situations which just seem to happen to us. The possibility of both the success of an autonomous life and its failure are part of our everyday experiences.

In this brilliant and illuminating book, Beate Roessler examines the tension between failing and succeeding to live an autonomous life and the obstacles we have to face when we try to live our life autonomously, obstacles within ourselves as well as those that stem from social and political conditions. She highlights the ambiguities we encounter, examines the roles of self-awareness and self-deception, explores the role of autonomy for the meaning of life, and maps out the social and political conditions necessary for autonomy. Informed by philosophical perspectives but also drawing on literary texts, such as those of Siri Hustvedt and Jane Austen, and diaries, including those of Franz Kafka and Sylvia Plath, Roessler develops a formidable defense of autonomy against excessive expectations and, above all, against overpowering skepticism.

Preface to the English edition vii

Preface viii

Introduction: Autonomy in Everyday Life 1

1 What is Autonomy? A Conceptual Approach 10

Remarks on the history of the concept 11

Negative freedom, positive freedom, autonomy 14

Conditions of individual autonomy 17

Autonomy and rational plans 24

2 Ambivalences 27

Various forms of ambivalence 28

Ambivalence as a disease of the will 32

Is an ambivalent will a healthy will? 34

The ambivalent self 37

Conflicts of ambivalence as conflicts of identity 39

Autonomy and the acceptance of conflicts 41

3 Autonomy and the Meaning of Life 43

Why do we value autonomy? 45

Sisyphus contented 47

Does the meaning of life consist in the satisfaction of desire? 48

The objective meaning of life 52

Mill’s crisis and subjective meaning in life 58

When does the question of meaning arise? 60

4 Autonomy, Self-Knowledge, and Self-Deception 63

Self-knowledge and self-determination 63

Self-deception: how can I be mistaken about myself? 66

How can self-knowledge fail? On fundamental epistemic uncertainties 73

The quantified self 80

5 Autonomy, Self-Thematization, Self-Examination: From Diaries to Blogs 84

Self-examination, self-control, reflection 84

Why diaries? And which diaries? 89

Autonomy in the diary: examples 92

Blogs and the new technologies of self-examination 102

What is the framework of autonomy? 107

6 Autonomous Choice and the Good Life 110

The question of the good life and perfectionism 110

Happiness, autonomy, and meaning 115

The significance of choosing: conditions of an autonomous decision 117

Who actually chooses and in what context? 120

Alienation (and authenticity) 123

Virtue and character 129

7 Private Life 135

Why privacy? 135

Dimensions of privacy 136

Informational privacy, social relationships, and autonomy 139

Autonomous persons in relationships (I) 142

Autonomy and domestic privacy: autonomous persons in relationships (II) 146

Privacy and democratic society 150

8 Social Preconditions of Autonomy 154

What are social conditions? 154

The social constitution of autonomy 156

Autonomy, ideology, and adaptive preferences 162

Social opportunities and justice 169

Between autonomy and oppression: limiting cases 172

9 The Reality of Autonomy 177

Autonomy is not an illusion 177

The significance of social practices 179

Social unfreedom and implicit bias 181

Aspects of moral responsibility 186

Autonomy and the life well lived 189

Notes 193

Bibliography 229

Index 250

“It needs a rare mixture of hermeneutical sensibility, analytical scrutiny, and existentialist imagination to give the individual search for autonomy the right place within the imponderables of one’s life. Beate Roessler, possessing these talents abundantly, is in my view the first one to fully illuminate both the desire and the difficulties we have in finding our own voice in the midst of social obstructions, individual self-misunderstandings, and communicative relationships. Her new book is by far the best philosophical study on this intricate topic and therefore a must-read.”
Axel Honneth, Department of Philosophy, Columbia University

“In one of the most lucid and insightful treatments of the subject of autonomy in the recent literature, Roessler takes profoundly seriously the contingencies and ambivalences inherent in everyday life, even in well-lived lives. The view of autonomy that emerges is thereby more nuanced, appropriately complex, and true to life than most on offer. The masterful use of literary examples, echoed in her own elegant writing, makes Roessler’s treatment of the topic a joy to read. Moreover, the account she offers, both of autonomy and its connection to a life well lived, is powerful and compelling.”
John Christman, Professor of Philosophy, Political Science and Women's Studies, Pennsylvania State University

“Engagingly written, and enriched with a series of well-chosen literary examples, Autonomy masterfully articulates the tensions between two conflicting but deeply entrenched conceptions of ourselves – as self-determined agents, and as beings who are subject to situations and circumstances that we do not choose. In explaining how these tensions can be reconciled, Beate Roessler presents a compelling argument for the view that autonomy is a necessary condition for a well-lived life. A lucid exploration of the interconnections between autonomy, self-knowledge, privacy, and social relationships, Autonomy makes an important contribution to the contemporary literature on autonomy.”
Catriona Mackenzie, Professor of Philosophy, Macquarie University

Beate Roessler is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam.