Autonomy - An Essay on the Life Well Lived - An Essay on the Life Well-Lived

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.

Sommario

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

Info autore

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

Riassunto

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.

Relazione

"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

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: B Roessler, Beate Roessler, Roessler Beate, Beate Rossler, Beate Rössler, James C. Wagner
• Con la collaborazione di: James C. Wagner (Traduzione), Wagner James C. (Traduzione)
• Editore: Polity Press
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 30.11.2020
• EAN: 9781509538003
• ISBN: 978-1-5095-3800-3
• Pagine: 380
• Categorie: Saggistica > Filosofia, religione > Filosofia: dall'antichità ai giorni nostri; Scienze umane, arte, musica > Filosofia; Soziologie, Philosophie, Gesellschaftstheorie, Sociology, Social Theory, Philosophy, Continental Philosophy, Kontinentalphilosophie, Allg. Philosophie