Autonomy

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For other uses, see Autonomy (disambiguation).

Autonomy (Ancient Greek: αὐτονομία autonomia from αὐτόνομος autonomos from αὐτο- auto- "self" +
νόμος nomos, "law" "one who gives oneself their own law") is a concept found in moral, political,
and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it refers to the capacity of arational individual to make an
informed, un-coerced decision. In moral and political philosophy, autonomy is often used as the basis for
determining moral responsibility for one's actions. One of the best known philosophical theories of autonomy
was developed by Kant. Inmedicine, respect for the autonomy of patients is an important goal, though it can
conflict with a competing ethical principle, namelybeneficence. However, beneficence is what is claimed to
have motivated every totalitarian state from the dawn of civilization. Autonomy is also used to refer to the self-
government of the people.

Look
up autonomy in Wiktionary,
the free dictionary.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Sociology

• 2 Politics

• 3 Philosophy

• 4 Religion

• 5 Medicine

• 6 Restrictions on

autonomy

• 7 Space systems

• 8 Various uses

• 9 See also

• 10 References

[edit]Sociology
In the subfield of Sociology called Sociology of knowledge, controversy over the boundaries of autonomy
stopped at the concept of relative autonomy [1] , until a typology of autonomy was created and developed
within science and technology studies. According to it, the contemporary form of Science's existing autonomy is
the reflexive autonomy: actors and structures within the scientific field are able to translate or to reflect diverse
themes presented by social and political fields, as well as influence them regarding the thematic choices on
research projects

[edit]Politics

In the past few decades, a large movement of autonomism has emerged in the form of anarchism.

In the United States government, autonomy refers to one's own self-governance. One former example of an
autonomous jurisdiction into the United States government belong to the Philippine Islands; The Philippine
Autonomy Act of 1916 provide the framework for the creation of an autonomous government providing
the Filipino people (Filipinos) broader domestic autonomy, though it reserved certain privileges to the United
States to protect its sovereign rights and interests.[2]

[edit]Philosophy

The word autonomy has several meanings in a philosophical context. In ethics, autonomy refers to a person's
capacity for self-determination in the context of moral choices. Kant argued that autonomy is demonstrated by
a person who decides on a course of action out of respect for moral duty. That is, an autonomous person acts
morally solely for the sake of doing "good", independently of other incentives. In hisGroundwork of the
Metaphysic of Morals, Kant applied this concept to create a definition of personhood. He suggested that such
compliance with moral law creates the essence of human dignity. In metaphysical philosophy, the concept of
autonomy is referenced in discussions about free will, fatalism, determinism, and agency.

[edit]Religion

In the polity of the Orthodox Church, the term "autonomous" describes a type of church body. A church that is
autonomous has its highest-ranking bishop, such as an archbishop or metropolitan, appointed by
the patriarch of the mother church from which it was granted its autonomy, but is self-governing in all other
respects.

[edit]Medicine

In a medical context, respect for a patient's autonomy is considered a fundamental ethical principle. This belief
is the central premise of the concept of informed consent and shared decision making. This idea, while
considered essential to today's practice of medicine, was developed in the last 50 years. According to
Beauchamp and Childress (in Principles of Biomedical Ethics), the Nuremberg trials detailed accounts of
horrifyingly exploitative medical "experiments." These incidences prompted calls for safeguards in medical
research. In the 1940s, the phrase "informed consent" appeared but didn't become widely used until the 1970s.
Initially, discussions about informed consent focused almost exclusively on research subjects, but eventually
has come to apply to the conventional physician-patient relationship as well. The seven elements of informed
consent (as defined by Beauchamp) include threshold elements (Competence and Voluntariness), information
elements (Disclosure, Recommendation, and Understanding) and consent elements (Decision and
Authorization).

[edit]Restrictions on autonomy

Autonomy can be, and usually is to one extent or another, waived to another authority, such as by agreeing to
follow governing laws. The actions available to an autonomous unit can be restricted by a more powerful
authority, such as when a cattleman sets a fence around his herd, or a court sentences a criminal to prison.
The decisions of an autonomous unit can be coerced, and its actions forced. Autonomy can be restricted
through the aspect of the ability to act, as in the case of a newborn or through the aspect of the ability to decide
as in the case of a person in a coma.

[edit]Space systems

Autonomy is an increasing feature of space systems with two objectives

 Mandatory for new functions:

e.g. several spacecraft in formation flight adjust their relative positions so

that interferometric measurements with wide basis can be performed

 Cost reduction:

e.g. failure detection and recovery by spacecraft system without ground

station involvement reduces Up-/Downlink usage and reduces operational
costs on ground.

 See Robotics:

An Autonomous Space Craft might make certain decisions for itself

based on imagery observation and a pre-programmed algorithm that
will determine the only possible logical outcome and then perform that
task without having to ask controllers NAND NOR AND types of
parameters. Autonomy in Space does not relate to the socio-political
definitions, here we are talking about a device that can make basic or
convoluted decisions based on LOGIC (in an electronic usage), the
X37b Military Space Plane is a great example!
To have true Autonomy however a device (or entity) would need to
have a longer leash being able to complete complex missions without
human intra direction. Such a system would say further automate the
other elements of the total process making the whole of the "system"
larger by including more devices that multicommunicate with each
other without involving ground based technicians or communications.
(the military might not want to send possibly interceptable signals to
and from said same)

For example: If they automated the ground based tracking and control
sending and or included additional satellites and/or space planes OR
other devices (autonomous air and seacraft) the X37b Missions could
someday become totally Autonomous.

 Basically: Send it on a mission and recover it when it lands.

 Obviously Autonomy here too has its authority hierarchy whereby

command override

is in effect. If the ground controllers want to they can take control of the
space craft at any time. A typical mission though will be
preprogrammed and perform as directed and land.. OR perform a task
WHILE and/or UNTIL (in a software sense) a condition is met (say a
signal sent from the ground) IF/THEN Land the Un-Manned SpaceCraft
without further direction from the ground. The systems so happen to
interact but that is not a necessary condition for autonomy. As each
device becomes more and more autonomous the total network
becomes more and more intelligent and at the same time secure

 Please see Cybernetics for more info.

 See also: Unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV

[edit]Various uses
 In computing, an autonomous peripheral is one that can be used
with the computer turned off

 Within self-determination theory in psychology, autonomy refers to

'autonomy support versus control', "hypothesizing that autonomy-
supportive social contexts tend to facilitate self-determined
motivation, healthy development, and optimal functioning."
  In mathematical analysis, an ordinary differential equation is said
to be autonomous if it is time-independent.

 In linguistics, an autonomous language is one which is

independent of other languages, for example has a standard,
grammar books, dictionaries or literature etc.

 In robotics "autonomy means independence of control. This

characterization implies that autonomy is a property of the relation
between two agents, in the case of robotics, of the relations
between the designer and the autonomous robot. Self-sufficiency,
situatedness, learning or development, and evolution increase an
agent’s degree of autonomy.", according to Rolf Pfeifer.

 In economics, autonomous consumption is consumption

expenditure when income levels are zero, making
spending autonomous to income.

 In politics, autonomous territories are States wishing to retain

territorial integrity in opposition to ethnic or indigenous demands
for self-determination or independence (sovereignty).

 In anti-establishment activism, an autonomous space is another

name for a non-governmental social center or free space (for
community interaction).
[edit]See also

Wikisource has the text of

the1911 Encyclopædia
Britannicaarticle Autonomy.

 Autonomism

 Cornelius Castoriadis

 Takis Fotopoulos

 Teaching for social justice

 Viable System Model

 Territorial autonomy

 Self-governing colony
  Sui iuris
[edit]References

1. ^ BOURDIEU, 2001(MARANHÃO, 2005; 2006; 2007; SOBRAL &

MARANHÃO, 2008

2. ^ Philippine Autonomy Act (Jones Law)

Categories: Autonomy | Ethical
principles | Cybernetics | Individualism | Concepts in ethics

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