Taking the Measure of Autonomy

<p>This book takes a radically different approach to the concept of autonomy. Killmister defends a theory of autonomy that is four-dimensional and constituted by what she calls ‘self-definition’ ‘self-realisation’ ‘self-unification’ and 'self-constitution.' While sufficiently complex to inform a full range of social applications this four-dimensional theory is nonetheless unified through the simple idea that autonomy can be understood in terms of self-governance. The ‘self’ of self-governance occupies two distinct roles: the role of ‘personal identity’ and the role of ‘practical agency.’ In each of these roles the self is responsible for both taking on and then honouring a wide range of commitments. One of the key benefits of this theory is that it provides a much richer measure not just of how autonomous an agent is but also the shape—or degree—of her autonomy. <i>Taking the Measure of Autonomy </i>will be of keen interest to professional philosophers and students across social philosophy political philosophy ethics and action theory who are working on autonomy. </p>