Part 1B Paper 7:

Political Philosophy / Liberty

3. Autonomy
Chrls 1hompson
c[L68[cam.ac.uk
1
8emlnder of lasL week's lecLure
1. 1he paradox of posluve llberLy
2. non-adapLauon and non-lngrauauon
3. 8epubllcan lreedom
4. ls non-domlnauon enough?
2
8emlnder of lasL week's lecLure
lnLerference non-lnLerference
Saused ! L.g. Woman ln Saudl
Arabla who ls happy noL
drlvlng
# L.g. CommunlsL academlc
ln LasL 8erlln
noL Saused $ L.g. nelson Mandela aL
8obln lsland
% L.g. Pomeless person
A: roblem of non-adapLauon
8: roblem of non-lngrauauon
u: roblem for non-domlnauon?
3
Cvervlew of Lhe lecLures
1. negauve and posluve llberLy
2. 1he paradox of posluve llberLy, Lhe problem
wlLh negauve llberLy
3. AuLonomy
4. aLernallsm
3. 1he value of freedom
6. Measurlng freedom
4
8eadlngs
SLanford Lncyclopedla of hllosophy enLrles.
CP8lS1MAn, !. (1988) 'ConsLrucung Lhe lnner
ClLadel: 8ecenL Work on Lhe ConcepL of
AuLonomy', !"#$%& 99(1): 109-124.
uWC8kln, C. (1988), (#) (#)*+, -./ 0+-%1%)
*2 34"*.*5,6 Cambrldge: Cambrldge
unlverslLy ress. [Lspeclally chs. 1&2]
3
Summary
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy (and lLs relauonshlp Lo
llberLy)
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of auLonomy
3. lour problems wlLh Lhe ul model
6
Summary
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy (and lLs relauonshlp Lo
llberLy)
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of auLonomy
3. lour problems wlLh Lhe ul model
7
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
8ellefs +
ueslres
= ueclslons
8
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
8ellefs +
ueslres
= ueclslons
AcLs
9
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
8ellefs +
ueslres
= ueclslons
CuLcomes
AcLs
10
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
8ellefs +
ueslres
= ueclslons
CuLcomes
AcLs
ConsLralnLs
11
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
8ellefs +
ueslres
= ueclslons
CuLcomes
AcLs
12
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
8ellefs +
ueslres
= ueclslons
CuLcomes
AcLs
Plgher order deslres
Lower order deslres
13
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
Lower order deslres have an Lhelr ob[ecL
cerLaln acuons. Lxamples:
1he urge Lo smoke
Cdysseus wanLs Lo go Lo Lhe Slrens
Plgher order deslres have as Lhelr ob[ecL lower
order deslres. Lxamples:
1he deslre Lo be free from addlcuon
Cdysseus wanLs Lo reslsL Lhe pull of Lhe Slrens and
go home Lo enelope
14
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
8ellefs +
ueslres
= ueclslons
CuLcomes
AcLs
Plgher order deslres
Lower order deslres
LlberLy
-vla consLralnLs
AuLonomy
13
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
8ellefs +
ueslres
= ueclslons
CuLcomes
AcLs
Plgher order deslres
Lower order deslres
LlberLy
-vla consLralnLs
AuLonomy
16
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy
1here can be llberLy wlLhouL auLonomy
L.g. A woman ls lndocLrlnaLed lnLo Lhe vlew LhaL
she musL be subservlenL Lo her husband. no one
prevenLs her acung on Lhls vlew, and ln facL she ls
faclllLaLed ln acung on lL.
1here can be auLonomy wlLhouL llberLy
L.g. Cdysseus decldlng Lo blnd hlmself Lo Lhe masL
Lo avold Lhe pull of Lhe Slrens.
17
Summary
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy (and lLs relauonshlp Lo
llberLy)
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of auLonomy
3. lour problems wlLh Lhe ul model
18
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of
auLonomy
.auLonomy ls concelved of as a second order
capaclLy of persons Lo reecL crlucally upon Lhelr
rsL-order preferences, deslres, wlshes, and so
forLh and Lhe capaclLy Lo accepL or auempL Lo
change Lhese ln llghL of hlgher-order preferences
and values." uworkln, p.20
19
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of
auLonomy
lf a smoker ls aware LhaL Lhey are addlcLed Lo
smoklng, buL Lhlnks LhaL all Lhe coolesL people
smoke, Lhey are auLonomous.
lf a smoker ls aware LhaL Lhey are addlcLed Lo
smoklng, wanLs Lo qulL, buL ls unable Lo, Lhey
are noL auLonomous.
20
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of
auLonomy
AuLonomy has Lwo feaLures:
1) CompeLency - Lhe ablllLy for lnLernal
dellberauon and self-reecuon, lndependenL of
exLernal lnuence
2) AuLhenuclLy - Lhe endorsemenL of Lhose
deslres.
21
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of
auLonomy
AuLonomy has Lwo feaLures:
1) CompeLency:
Pow do we assess compeLence?
uo we have a Lhreshold vlew?
uoes Lhls open Lhe way for paLernallsm?
2) AuLhenuclLy:
noL merely endorsemenL/ re[ecuon of lCu, buL
Lhe ablllLy Lo alLer lCu.
22
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of
auLonomy
WanL Lo wanL Lo smoke uon'L wanL Lo wanL Lo
smoke
WanL Lo smoke AuLonomous
uon'L wanL Lo smoke
Suppose someone smokes
Second-order deslres
l
l
r
s
L
-
o
r
d
e
r

d
e
s
l
r
e
s

23
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of
auLonomy
WanL Lo wanL Lo smoke uon'L wanL Lo wanL Lo
smoke
WanL Lo smoke AuLonomous Akrauc
uon'L wanL Lo smoke
Suppose someone smokes
Second-order deslres
l
l
r
s
L
-
o
r
d
e
r

d
e
s
l
r
e
s

24
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of
auLonomy
WanL Lo wanL Lo smoke uon'L wanL Lo wanL Lo
smoke
WanL Lo smoke AuLonomous Akrauc
uon'L wanL Lo smoke Lnkrauc
Suppose someone smokes
Second-order deslres
l
l
r
s
L
-
o
r
d
e
r

d
e
s
l
r
e
s

23
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of
auLonomy
WanL Lo wanL Lo smoke uon'L wanL Lo wanL Lo
smoke
WanL Lo smoke AuLonomous Akrauc
uon'L wanL Lo smoke Lnkrauc vlolauon of negauve
llberLy?
Suppose someone smokes
Second-order deslres
l
l
r
s
L
-
o
r
d
e
r

d
e
s
l
r
e
s

26
Summary
1. 1he ldea of auLonomy (and lLs relauonshlp Lo
llberLy)
2. 1he uworkln/ lrankfurL model of auLonomy
3. lour problems wlLh Lhe ul model
27
3. Crluclsms of Lhe uworkln model
1. uo we really need Lo lnLroduce hlgher order
deslres?
2. uo we LhreaLen an lnnlLe regress?
3. uo we need Lo lnLroduce a subsLanuve nouon
of auLonomy?
4. WhaL abouL cases where second-order
deslres are Lhe resulL of manlpulauon?
28
3. Crluclsms of Lhe uworkln model
1. uo we really need Lo lnLroduce hlgher order
deslres?
Couldn'L we dlsungulsh beLween Lhe
auLonomous and non-auLonomous smoker aL
Lhe level of lower order deslres?
uworkln's example: we wanL Lo dlsungulsh
beLween a docLor lylng Lo a pauenL ouL of
paLernallsm, and a docLor lylng Lo a pauenL
because Lhe pauenL asked Lhem Lo.
29
3. Crluclsms of Lhe uworkln model
2. uo we LhreaLen an lnnlLe regress?
We have rsL order deslres abouL acuons. We have
second order deslres abouL rsL order deslres.
Why noL have Lhlrd order deslres abouL second order
deslres, fourLh order deslres abouL Lhlrd order deslres,
.
uworkln - as a mauer of emplrlcal facL we don'L have
an lnnlLe number of levels. AuLonomy ls Lhe capaclLy
of Lhls hlghesL level Lo reecL on and accepL/ re[ecL Lhe
lower level deslres.
8uL - we may face a problem of [usucauon.
30
3. Crluclsms of Lhe uworkln model
3. uo we need Lo lnLroduce a subsLanuve nouon
of auLonomy?
rocedural auLonomy - some (mlnlmal)
%-7-%$", Lo reecL on lCu and %-7-%$", Lo
accepL or re[ecL Lhem. [uworkln]
SubsLanuve auLonomy - has concern for Lhe
%*.")." of Lhe lCu.
31
3. Crluclsms of Lhe uworkln model
3. uo we need Lo lnLroduce a subsLanuve nouon of
auLonomy?
L.g. 1he monk who delegaLes all conLrol of hls llfe Lo hls
Crder doesn'L seem auLonomous.
1hls cerLalnly seems llke a case where second order
deslres have llule lmpacL on rsL order deslres.
uworkln - Lo lnslsL on a subsLanuve nouon of
auLonomy makes auLonomy lnconslsLenL wlLh loyalLy,
love, commlLmenL.Someone who ls loyal does noL
lack auLonomy.
uworkln - provlded LhaL resLrlcuons are self-lmposed,
sull counL as auLonomous.
32
3. Crluclsms of Lhe uworkln model
3. uo we need Lo lnLroduce a subsLanuve nouon
of auLonomy?
osluve nouons of auLonomy lead Lo Lhe
paradox of posluve freedom.
8uL whaL abouL slavery?
Clobal vs. local nouon of auLonomy.
33
3. Crluclsms of Lhe uworkln model
4. WhaL abouL cases where second-order deslres
are Lhe resulL of manlpulauon? [ChrlsLman]
L.g. A young woman who ls anorexlc may
have been bralnwashed lnLo Lhlnklng she ls
Loo faL. Per rsL-order huger seems more
auLhenuc Lhan her second order deslre Lo
sLarve herself.
34
nexL week.
4. aLernallsm
33