Autonomy for Angels and Earthlings

Dr Suzy Killmister (University of Connecticut)

Abstract:
Most contemporary theories of autonomy are structured, unsurprisingly enough, around the phenomenon of human agency. In this paper I argue that taking human experience as our starting point is nonetheless counterproductive. If we want to fully understand what autonomy is, and how it is achieved by persons like ourselves, we would do better to start from consideration of a maximally autonomous being. I suggest that not only will such a theory be able to fully account for the complexities and idiosyncrasies of human autonomy, but it will also help us avoid some pitfalls common to theories of autonomy. One of the key upshots to this alternative approach is that it shifts attention away from the frequently posed question 'is she autonomous?', and directs it instead to more productive questions.