Abstract
Abstract Although vulnerability often diminishes a person's autonomy, this is not true in all senses. The realization of autonomy, understood as an ideal of personal agency, is entwined with various forms of vulnerability. This essay sketches a conception of autonomy as comprising deliberative, executive, self-interpretive, and critical autonomy-competencies developed and exercised within social practices. Drawing on theories of recognition, it then discusses two senses in which vulnerability to others contributes constitutively to autonomy: first, because autonomous agency is dependent on the normative pragmatics of mutual recognition; second, because participation in autonomy-promoting social practices is contingent on co-participants' attribution of competence to one another. The essay concludes by considering the question of the appropriateness of social and political arrangements that facilitate richer forms of autonomy but that also generate concomitantly higher levels of vulnerability.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.