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Autonomy: An Essay on the Life Well-Lived
by Beate RoesslerIn 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.
Autonomy: An Essay on the Life Well-Lived
by Beate RoesslerIn 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.
Autonomy (Bloomsbury Ethics)
by Andrew SneddonPhilosophers have various reasons to be interested in individual autonomy. Individual self-rule is widely recognized to be important. But what, exactly, is autonomy? In what ways is it important? And just how important is it? This book introduces contemporary philosophical thought about the nature and significance of individual self-rule.Andrew Sneddon divides self-rule into autonomy of choice and autonomy of persons. Unlike most philosophical treatments of autonomy, Sneddon addresses empirical study of the psychology of action. The significance of autonomy is displayed in connection with such issues as paternalism, political liberalism, advertising and physician-assisted suicide. Sneddon both introduces the themes of contemporary autonomy studies and defends a novel account of its nature and significance. Autonomy is an ideal introduction for advanced-level undergraduate and postgraduate students to the issues and debates surrounding individual self-rule.
Autonomy (Bloomsbury Ethics)
by Andrew SneddonPhilosophers have various reasons to be interested in individual autonomy. Individual self-rule is widely recognized to be important. But what, exactly, is autonomy? In what ways is it important? And just how important is it? This book introduces contemporary philosophical thought about the nature and significance of individual self-rule.Andrew Sneddon divides self-rule into autonomy of choice and autonomy of persons. Unlike most philosophical treatments of autonomy, Sneddon addresses empirical study of the psychology of action. The significance of autonomy is displayed in connection with such issues as paternalism, political liberalism, advertising and physician-assisted suicide. Sneddon both introduces the themes of contemporary autonomy studies and defends a novel account of its nature and significance. Autonomy is an ideal introduction for advanced-level undergraduate and postgraduate students to the issues and debates surrounding individual self-rule.
Autonomy, Accountability and Social Justice: Stories of English Schooling
by Amanda Keddie Martin MillsAutonomy, Accountability and Social Justice provides an account of recent developments in English state education, with a particular focus on the ‘academisation’ of schooling. It examines how head teachers, teachers and others working in diverse education settings navigate the current policy environment. The authors provide readers with insight into the complex decision-making processes that shape school responses to current educational agendas and examine the social justice implications of these responses. The book draws on Nancy Fraser’s social justice framework and her theorising of neoliberalism to explore current tensions associated with moves towards both greater autonomy for and accountability of state schooling. These tensions are presented through four case studies that centre upon 1) a group of local authority primary schools, 2) an academy ‘chain’, 3) a co-operative secondary school and 4) an alternative education setting. The book identifies the ‘emancipatory’ possibilities of these approaches amid the complex demands of autonomy and accountability seizing English schools. Informed by a consideration of market parameters and social protectionist ideals, this examination provides rich insights into how English schools have emancipatory capacity. Autonomy, Accountability and Social Justice makes a major theoretical contribution to understandings of how the market is working alongside the regulation of schooling and the implications of this for social justice. By drawing on the experiences of those working in schools, it demonstrates that the tensions associated with autonomy and accountability within the current education policy environment can be both productive and unproductive for social justice.
Autonomy, Accountability and Social Justice: Stories of English Schooling
by Amanda Keddie Martin MillsAutonomy, Accountability and Social Justice provides an account of recent developments in English state education, with a particular focus on the ‘academisation’ of schooling. It examines how head teachers, teachers and others working in diverse education settings navigate the current policy environment. The authors provide readers with insight into the complex decision-making processes that shape school responses to current educational agendas and examine the social justice implications of these responses. The book draws on Nancy Fraser’s social justice framework and her theorising of neoliberalism to explore current tensions associated with moves towards both greater autonomy for and accountability of state schooling. These tensions are presented through four case studies that centre upon 1) a group of local authority primary schools, 2) an academy ‘chain’, 3) a co-operative secondary school and 4) an alternative education setting. The book identifies the ‘emancipatory’ possibilities of these approaches amid the complex demands of autonomy and accountability seizing English schools. Informed by a consideration of market parameters and social protectionist ideals, this examination provides rich insights into how English schools have emancipatory capacity. Autonomy, Accountability and Social Justice makes a major theoretical contribution to understandings of how the market is working alongside the regulation of schooling and the implications of this for social justice. By drawing on the experiences of those working in schools, it demonstrates that the tensions associated with autonomy and accountability within the current education policy environment can be both productive and unproductive for social justice.
Autonomy After Auschwitz: Adorno, German Idealism, and Modernity
by Martin ShusterEver since Kant and Hegel, the notion of autonomy—the idea that we are beholden to no law except one we impose upon ourselves—has been considered the truest philosophical expression of human freedom. But could our commitment to autonomy, as Theodor Adorno asked, be related to the extreme evils that we have witnessed in modernity? In Autonomy after Auschwitz, Martin Shuster explores this difficult question with astonishing theoretical acumen, examining the precise ways autonomy can lead us down a path of evil and how it might be prevented from doing so. Shuster uncovers dangers in the notion of autonomy as it was originally conceived by Kant. Putting Adorno into dialogue with a range of European philosophers, notably Kant, Hegel, Horkheimer, and Habermas—as well as with a variety of contemporary Anglo-American thinkers such as Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, John McDowell, and Robert Pippin—he illuminates Adorno’s important revisions to this fraught concept and how his different understanding of autonomous agency, fully articulated, might open up new and positive social and political possibilities. Altogether, Autonomy after Auschwitz is a meditation on modern evil and human agency, one that demonstrates the tremendous ethical stakes at the heart of philosophy.
Autonomy After Auschwitz: Adorno, German Idealism, and Modernity
by Martin ShusterEver since Kant and Hegel, the notion of autonomy—the idea that we are beholden to no law except one we impose upon ourselves—has been considered the truest philosophical expression of human freedom. But could our commitment to autonomy, as Theodor Adorno asked, be related to the extreme evils that we have witnessed in modernity? In Autonomy after Auschwitz, Martin Shuster explores this difficult question with astonishing theoretical acumen, examining the precise ways autonomy can lead us down a path of evil and how it might be prevented from doing so. Shuster uncovers dangers in the notion of autonomy as it was originally conceived by Kant. Putting Adorno into dialogue with a range of European philosophers, notably Kant, Hegel, Horkheimer, and Habermas—as well as with a variety of contemporary Anglo-American thinkers such as Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, John McDowell, and Robert Pippin—he illuminates Adorno’s important revisions to this fraught concept and how his different understanding of autonomous agency, fully articulated, might open up new and positive social and political possibilities. Altogether, Autonomy after Auschwitz is a meditation on modern evil and human agency, one that demonstrates the tremendous ethical stakes at the heart of philosophy.
Autonomy After Auschwitz: Adorno, German Idealism, and Modernity
by Martin ShusterEver since Kant and Hegel, the notion of autonomy—the idea that we are beholden to no law except one we impose upon ourselves—has been considered the truest philosophical expression of human freedom. But could our commitment to autonomy, as Theodor Adorno asked, be related to the extreme evils that we have witnessed in modernity? In Autonomy after Auschwitz, Martin Shuster explores this difficult question with astonishing theoretical acumen, examining the precise ways autonomy can lead us down a path of evil and how it might be prevented from doing so. Shuster uncovers dangers in the notion of autonomy as it was originally conceived by Kant. Putting Adorno into dialogue with a range of European philosophers, notably Kant, Hegel, Horkheimer, and Habermas—as well as with a variety of contemporary Anglo-American thinkers such as Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, John McDowell, and Robert Pippin—he illuminates Adorno’s important revisions to this fraught concept and how his different understanding of autonomous agency, fully articulated, might open up new and positive social and political possibilities. Altogether, Autonomy after Auschwitz is a meditation on modern evil and human agency, one that demonstrates the tremendous ethical stakes at the heart of philosophy.
Autonomy After Auschwitz: Adorno, German Idealism, and Modernity
by Martin ShusterEver since Kant and Hegel, the notion of autonomy—the idea that we are beholden to no law except one we impose upon ourselves—has been considered the truest philosophical expression of human freedom. But could our commitment to autonomy, as Theodor Adorno asked, be related to the extreme evils that we have witnessed in modernity? In Autonomy after Auschwitz, Martin Shuster explores this difficult question with astonishing theoretical acumen, examining the precise ways autonomy can lead us down a path of evil and how it might be prevented from doing so. Shuster uncovers dangers in the notion of autonomy as it was originally conceived by Kant. Putting Adorno into dialogue with a range of European philosophers, notably Kant, Hegel, Horkheimer, and Habermas—as well as with a variety of contemporary Anglo-American thinkers such as Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, John McDowell, and Robert Pippin—he illuminates Adorno’s important revisions to this fraught concept and how his different understanding of autonomous agency, fully articulated, might open up new and positive social and political possibilities. Altogether, Autonomy after Auschwitz is a meditation on modern evil and human agency, one that demonstrates the tremendous ethical stakes at the heart of philosophy.
Autonomy, Agency, and Identity in Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language
by Mark Feng TengThis book discusses the importance of autonomy, agency, and identity in teaching and learning English as a foreign language, all of which are central themes in the educational domain. By linking theory with practice to appeal to researchers as well as classroom practitioners, it provides an overview of the theoretical constructs of autonomy, agency, and identity along with empirical studies that explore these constructs through life stories as told by English teachers and students. Key features include: • New ideas to inspire professionals involved in foreign language education. • Up-to-date information to showcase for English language educators how autonomy, agency, and identity can be conceptualized across various institutional, sociocultural, and political contexts.• A concise yet comprehensive review of the theoretical and practical issues characterizing English foreign language education today.
Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence: A Threat or Savior?
by W. F. Lawless Ranjeev Mittu Donald Sofge Stephen RussellThis book explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI), by leading to an increase in the autonomy of machines and robots, is offering opportunities for an expanded but uncertain impact on society by humans, machines, and robots. To help readers better understand the relationships between AI, autonomy, humans and machines that will help society reduce human errors in the use of advanced technologies (e.g., airplanes, trains, cars), this edited volume presents a wide selection of the underlying theories, computational models, experimental methods, and field applications. While other literature deals with these topics individually, this book unifies the fields of autonomy and AI, framing them in the broader context of effective integration for human-autonomous machine and robotic systems. The contributions, written by world-class researchers and scientists, elaborate on key research topics at the heart of effective human-machine-robot-systems integration. These topics include, for example, computational support for intelligence analyses; the challenge of verifying today’s and future autonomous systems; comparisons between today’s machines and autism; implications of human information interaction on artificial intelligence and errors; systems that reason; the autonomy of machines, robots, buildings; and hybrid teams, where hybrid reflects arbitrary combinations of humans, machines and robots. The contributors span the field of autonomous systems research, ranging from industry and academia to government. Given the broad diversity of the research in this book, the editors strove to thoroughly examine the challenges and trends of systems that implement and exhibit AI; the social implications of present and future systems made autonomous with AI; systems with AI seeking to develop trusted relationships among humans, machines, and robots; and the effective human systems integration that must result for trust in these new systems and their applications to increase and to be sustained.
Autonomy and Clinical Medicine: Renewing the Health Professional Relation with the Patient (International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine #2)
by J. Bergsma David C. ThomasmaThis book arises from a two-fold conviction. The first is that autonomy, despite recent critiques about its importance in bioethics and philosophy of medicine, and the traditional resistance of medicine to its "intrusion" into the doctor-patient relation, is a fundamental building block of an individual's identity and mechanisms for dealing with illness, disease, and incapacity. As such it is an essential component in the health care professional's armamentarium employed to bring about healing. Furthennore, it functions in a similar way to assist the health professional in his or her relations to the sick and injured. The second conviction follows from the fITst. Autonomy is far more complex than appears from the philosophical use of the concept. In this conviction we join those who have criticized the over-reliance on autonomy in modem, secular bioethics originating in the United States, but gaining ascendancy in other cultures. This critique relies on appeals to the richer contexts of persons' lives. Elsewhere the contemporary critique of autonomy appears in a variety of alternative ethical models like narrative ethics, casuist ethics, and contextualism. Indeed, postmodern criticism of all bioethics argues that there is no defensible foundation for claims that one ought to respect autonomy or any other principle as a way of ensuring that one is ethical.
Autonomy and Control of State Agencies: Comparing States and Agencies (Public Sector Organizations)
by K. Verhoest P. Roness B. Verschuere K. Rubecksen M. MacCarthaighBy comparing the autonomy, control and internal management of public organizations, this book show how New Public Management doctrines work out in three small European states with different politico-administrative regimes. Using survey data on 226 state agencies, hypotheses drawing on organization theory and neo-institutional schools are tested.
Autonomy and Democratic Governance in Northeast India
by M. Amarjeet SinghThis volume studies the various forms of ethnic autonomy envisioned within and outside the purview of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It explores the role of the British Indian administration and the Constituent Assembly of India in the introduction and inclusion of the schedule and the special provisions granted under it. Drawing on case studies from the states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Sikkim in Northeast India and Darjeeling in North Bengal, it examines whether the practice of granting autonomy has been able to fulfil the political aspirations of the ethnic communities and how far autonomy settles or eases conflict. It also discusses sub-state nationalism and if it can be accommodated within autonomy, and studies the views of the central government and state governments towards such autonomy. An important contribution towards understanding India’s federal structure, the volume will be indispensable to students and researchers of politics, democracy, Indian Constitution, law, self-governance, political theory, and South Asian studies.
Autonomy and Democratic Governance in Northeast India
by M. Amarjeet SinghThis volume studies the various forms of ethnic autonomy envisioned within and outside the purview of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It explores the role of the British Indian administration and the Constituent Assembly of India in the introduction and inclusion of the schedule and the special provisions granted under it. Drawing on case studies from the states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Sikkim in Northeast India and Darjeeling in North Bengal, it examines whether the practice of granting autonomy has been able to fulfil the political aspirations of the ethnic communities and how far autonomy settles or eases conflict. It also discusses sub-state nationalism and if it can be accommodated within autonomy, and studies the views of the central government and state governments towards such autonomy. An important contribution towards understanding India’s federal structure, the volume will be indispensable to students and researchers of politics, democracy, Indian Constitution, law, self-governance, political theory, and South Asian studies.
Autonomy and Dependence in the Family: Turkey and Sweden in Critical Perspective
by Rita LiljestromWhat are the future prospects of the modern family? For a long time the common image in the West has been to see the nuclear family, consisting of two economically independent spouses and their children, as the natural outcome of the modernization process. As the hierarchies of patriarchal society vanish, a social order based on equal and autonomous individuals all set for self-realisation has been assumed. However, high rates of divorce, often reported domestic violence, teenagers left on their own at an early age, do not harmonize very well with this idealized image. Critical analysis of family order in two countries at the opposite edges of the European continent - Turkey and Sweden - approaches these problems and attempts to create a more realistic picture of family life in the modern world.
Autonomy and Dependence in the Family: Turkey and Sweden in Critical Perspective
by Rita Liljeström Elisabeth ÖzdalgaWhat are the future prospects of the modern family? For a long time the common image in the West has been to see the nuclear family, consisting of two economically independent spouses and their children, as the natural outcome of the modernization process. As the hierarchies of patriarchal society vanish, a social order based on equal and autonomous individuals all set for self-realisation has been assumed. However, high rates of divorce, often reported domestic violence, teenagers left on their own at an early age, do not harmonize very well with this idealized image. Critical analysis of family order in two countries at the opposite edges of the European continent - Turkey and Sweden - approaches these problems and attempts to create a more realistic picture of family life in the modern world.
Autonomy and Equality: Relational Approaches (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)
by Natalie StoljarThis book draws connections and explores important questions at the intersection of the debates about relational autonomy and relational equality. Although these two research areas share several common assumptions and concerns, their connections have not been systematically explored. The essays in this volume address theoretical questions at the intersection of relational theories of autonomy and equality and also consider how these theoretical considerations play out in real-world contexts. Several chapters explore possible conceptual links between relational autonomy and equality by considering the role of values—such as agency, non-domination, and self-respect—to which both relational autonomy theorists and relational egalitarians are committed. Others reflect on how debates about autonomy and equality can clarify our thinking about oppression based on race and gender, and how such oppression affects interpersonal relationships. Autonomy and Equality: Relational Approaches is the first book to specifically address the relationship between these two research areas. It will be of interest to scholars and graduate students working in social and political philosophy, moral philosophy, and feminist philosophy.
Autonomy and Equality: Relational Approaches (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)
by Natalie Stoljar Kristin VoigtThis book draws connections and explores important questions at the intersection of the debates about relational autonomy and relational equality. Although these two research areas share several common assumptions and concerns, their connections have not been systematically explored. The essays in this volume address theoretical questions at the intersection of relational theories of autonomy and equality and also consider how these theoretical considerations play out in real-world contexts. Several chapters explore possible conceptual links between relational autonomy and equality by considering the role of values—such as agency, non-domination, and self-respect—to which both relational autonomy theorists and relational egalitarians are committed. Others reflect on how debates about autonomy and equality can clarify our thinking about oppression based on race and gender, and how such oppression affects interpersonal relationships. Autonomy and Equality: Relational Approaches is the first book to specifically address the relationship between these two research areas. It will be of interest to scholars and graduate students working in social and political philosophy, moral philosophy, and feminist philosophy.
Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning in a Virtual Learning Environment (Advances in Digital Language Learning and Teaching)
by Miranda HamiltonDigitalisedlearning with its promise of autonomy, enhanced learner choice,independence and freedom, is an intuitive and appealing construct butcloser examination reveals it to be a rather simplistic proposition,raising the following questions. -What do we mean by autonomy? -What are we implying about the role of the teacher, the classroom, and interaction between learners? -What do we understand about the impact of technology on the ecology of the learning environment?Thisbook describes the use of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) by agroup of advanced English language learners in Mexico, comparing whatstudents thoughtand what they didin response to the technology. The theoretical aim of the book is towork towards the construction of a theory of the development ofautonomy and virtual learning in an EFL context. Enhancedunderstanding about the relationship between autonomy and technologyhas the potential to inform academics, software designers, materialswriters, teacher educators, and teachers and to help learners intheir quest to acquire a foreign language.
Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning in a Virtual Learning Environment (Advances in Digital Language Learning and Teaching)
by Miranda HamiltonDigitalisedlearning with its promise of autonomy, enhanced learner choice,independence and freedom, is an intuitive and appealing construct butcloser examination reveals it to be a rather simplistic proposition,raising the following questions. -What do we mean by autonomy? -What are we implying about the role of the teacher, the classroom, and interaction between learners? -What do we understand about the impact of technology on the ecology of the learning environment?Thisbook describes the use of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) by agroup of advanced English language learners in Mexico, comparing whatstudents thoughtand what they didin response to the technology. The theoretical aim of the book is towork towards the construction of a theory of the development ofautonomy and virtual learning in an EFL context. Enhancedunderstanding about the relationship between autonomy and technologyhas the potential to inform academics, software designers, materialswriters, teacher educators, and teachers and to help learners intheir quest to acquire a foreign language.
Autonomy and Human Rights in Health Care: An International Perspective (International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine #36)
by David N. Weisstub Guillermo Díaz PintosThis book offers a group of essays published in memory of David Thomasma, one of the leading humanists in the field of bioethics during the twentieth century. The authors represent many different countries and disciplines throughout the globe. The volume deals with the pressing issue of how to ground a universal bioethics in the context of the conflicted world of combative cultures and perspectives.
Autonomy and Independence: Aging in an Era of Technology (Synthesis Lectures on Technology and Health)
by Massimo Poesio Lili Liu Christine DaumThis book looks at how AgeTech can support the autonomy and independence of people as they grow older. The authors challenge readers to reflect on the concepts of autonomy and independence not as absolutes but as experiences situated within older adults’ social connections and environments. Eleven personas of people around the world provide the context for readers to consider the influence of culture and values on how we understand autonomy and independence and the potential role of technology-based supports. The global pandemic provides a backdrop for the unprecedentedly rapid adoption of AgeTech, such as information and communication technologies or mobile applications that benefit older adults. Each persona in the book demonstrates the opportunity for AgeTech to facilitate autonomy and independence in supporting one’s identity, decision making, advance care planning, self care, health management, economic and social participation, enjoyment and self fulfillment and mobility in the community. The book features AgeTech from around the world to provide examples of commercially available products as well as research and development within the field. Despite the promise of AgeTech, the book highlights the “digital divide,” where some older people experience inadequate access to technology due to their geographic location, socio-economic status, and age. This book is accessible and relevant to everyday readers. Older adults will recognize themselves or peers in the personas and may glean insight from the solutions. Care partners and service providers will identify with the challenges of the personas. AgeTech entrepreneurs, especially “seniorpreneurs,” will appreciate that their endeavours represent a growing trend. Researchers will be reminded that the most important research questions are those that will enhance the quality of life of older adults and their sense of autonomy and independence, or relational autonomy and interdependence.