Autonomy is one of the most foundational conditions of liberalism, a political philosophy that prizes individual freedom. Today, we still grapple with autonomy's value and its implications. How important is autonomy for a good life? Should people try to achieve autonomy for themselves? And does autonomy support healthy citizenship in free societies? In Ethical Autonomy, Lucas Swaine offers new and compelling answers to these key philosophical and political questions.
Swaine charts the evolution of autonomy from ancient Greece to modern democratic life. Illuminating the history of the concept and its development within political theory, he focuses on autonomy at its most basic level: personal autonomy. Swaine methodically exposes the dark side of personal autonomy, pinpointing its deficiencies at both theoretical and practical levels. In so doing, he provides a powerful critique of the very idea of personal autonomy, arguing that it is so underspecified and indeterminate that it falls apart. Moreover, Swaine suggests, personally autonomous individuals devolve and degrade their moral agency, often at others' expense, and in many cases with shocking real-world consequences.
Swaine's solution to problems of personal autonomy is to develop a new model of individual-level autonomy, which he calls "ethical autonomy." A form of self-rule integrating moral character and grounded in principles of liberty of conscience, ethical autonomy incorporates restraints on an autonomous individual's imagination, deliberation, and will. It supports the central commitments of liberalism and enhances active and astute forms of democratic citizenship. This novel understanding of autonomy stresses the values of freedom, toleration, respect, individual rights, limited government, and the rightful rule of law.
Industry Reviews
"Ethical Autonomy makes an important contribution to the ongoing discussion of the role of autonomy in society." -- Jakob Elster, The Review of Politics
"In this immensely important contribution to contemporary ethical theory, Swaine revisits the idea of autonomy, reworking shopworn notions of personal autonomy into an attractive and practical ideal of autonomy grounded in character and disposition. The book is beautifully written, cogent, and well-argued: at once an immensely serious work of analytic philosophy and a passionate and practical guide to practice." -- Josiah Ober, Mitsotakis Professor in the
School of Humanities and Science, Stanford University
"Across much of contemporary moral and political theory, autonomy is taken as an uncontroversial value; at worst, it is judged to be too demanding, too high a standard to expect everyone to attain. Lucas Swaine's admirably contrarian Ethical Autonomy argues that autonomy as we have traditionally understood it is not demanding enough. He suggests that it puts contentless proceduralism where moral character should be, telling us to care less about what a person
does than about whether they have fully decided it for themselves. This is a valuable challenge to received pieties, set out in a thoughtful, careful, and intellectually ambitious book." -- Jacob T.
Levy, McGill University
"This book is smart, well-written, and thoughtful. Swaine discusses autonomy, a central concept in liberal political thought, and offers a fuller alternative: ethical autonomy." -- Jeff Spinner-Halev, Kenan Eminent Professor of Political Ethics, University of North Carolina
