Definition Of Autonomy Research Articles

A maturity model for the autonomy of manufacturing systems

Modern manufacturing has to cope with dynamic and changing circumstances. Market fluctuations, the effects caused by unpredictable material shortages, highly variable product demand, and worker availability all require system robustness, flexibility, and resilience. To adapt to these new requirements, manufacturers should consider investigating, investing in, and implementing system autonomy. Autonomy is being adopted in multiple industrial contexts, but divergences arise when formalizing the concept of autonomous systems. To develop an implementation of autonomous manufacturing systems, it is essential to specify what autonomy means, how autonomous manufacturing systems are different from other autonomous systems, and how autonomous manufacturing systems are identified and achieved through the main features and enabling technologies. With a comprehensive literature review, this paper provides a definition of autonomy in the manufacturing context, infers the features of autonomy from different engineering domains, and presents a five-level model of autonomy — associated with maturity levels for the features — to ensure the complete identification and evaluation of autonomous manufacturing systems. The paper also presents the evaluation of a real autonomous system that serves as a use-case and a validation of the model.

Faith and Freedom: Contexts, Choices, and Crises in Religious Commitments

Faith and Freedom: Contexts, Choices, and Crises in Religious Commitments

Lessons from Castoriadis: Downsizing critical theory and defusing the concept of society

This article discusses successive positions of the Frankfurt School, contrasts them to the unfolding ideas of Castoriadis and argues for a critical theory centred on a concept of autonomy, but aware of the obstacles and complications inherent in social–historical reality and its modern configuration. To clarify this perspective, we need a concept of society that distances itself from the Parsonian paradigm, more so than recent theorists of the Frankfurt School have done. The critique of over-integrated images of society, developed by various sociologists in the 1970s and 1980s but not properly assimilated by the mainstream of the discipline and never taken on board by Frankfurt theorists, is an important source of reference, and it can be taken further in the light of Castoriadis’s reflections on the social–historical. The result is a definition of autonomy as a capacity of explicit and unlimited interrogation, confronted with its own hubristic temptations in the context of a multidimensional social world.

What kinds of groups are group agents?

For a group to be an agent, it must be individuated from its environment and other systems. It must, in other words, be an individual. Despite the central importance of individuality for understanding group agency, the concept has been significantly overlooked. I propose to fill this gap in our understanding of group individuality by arguing that agents are autonomous as it is commonly understood in the enactive literature. According to this autonomous individuation account, an autonomous system is one wherein the constituent processes of the system actively produce and sustain that self-same system, which will run down or fail if any of these constituent processes cease. This definition of autonomy provides us with a precise and operational account of the individuality of group agents. I will then compare this account to those of Carol Rovane and Raimo Tuomela to argue that it offers the best explanation of what kinds of groups are group agents.

The development of student autonomy in Spain over the last 10 years: a review

ABSTRACT This paper is based on a review of studies focusing on student autonomy in early childhood, primary, and secondary education in Spain published in the last 10 years. Autonomy is defined as the capacity of individuals to act in a self-determined way. Educational institutions play a key role in the development of autonomy through experience, and students demonstrate more autonomy in learning when they are older. The method used in this paper consists of an overview of empirical studies from different databases and the application of three pre-defined filters. A total of 41 studies is analysed and critically assessed in relation to (1) the area of knowledge and level of schooling, (2) the definition of autonomy, (3) the method used, and (4) the elements influencing student autonomy. Results indicate that (1) physical education in secondary education is the most researched area, (2) most studies have defined autonomy and used self-determination theory as a framework for measuring student autonomy, (3) the majority of studies have used quantitative methods and a student sample, and (4) autonomy support provided by teachers positively influences student autonomy. In addition, the results show that intrinsic elements, such as the development of stable individual identity and psychological resources, enhance student autonomy. The paper concludes that future research should be aimed at a more specific conceptualisation of student autonomy to be assessed, measured, and promoted in different international educational environments and areas of knowledge.

Autonomy and the Perspectives of Its Artificial Implementation

Whichever definition of autonomy is used, it is usually formulated in a negative way by the absence, rather than presence, of the defining factors. Some definitions refer to the absence of external causes, physical determination, coercion or control. If positive factors are used, autonomy is associated with the shift from effective causes to final ones. Both approaches, the former of which is based on the elimination of determinism to secure free choice, and the latter of which is based on the replacement of determination by the past by determination by the future, are inconsistent with the scientific description of reality. This paper is an attempt to provide the positive, constructive characterization of autonomy consistent with the scientific view of reality, which can guide us in our search for its implementation in artefacts.

Employing Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems

The ethics of warfare and military leadership must pay attention to the rapidly increasing use of artificial intelligence and machines. Who is responsible for the decisions made by a machine? Do machines make decisions? May they make them? These issues are of particular interest in the context of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS). Are they autonomous or just automated? Do they violate the international humanitarian law which requires that humans must always be responsible for the use of lethal force and for the assessment that civilian casualties are proportionate to the military goals? The article analyses relevant documents, opinions, government positions, and commentaries using the methods of applied ethics. The main conceptual finding is that the definition of autonomy depends on what the one presenting it seeks to support. Those who want to use lethal autonomous weapon systems call them by another name, say, automated instead of autonomous. They impose standards on autonomy that machines do not meet, such as moral agency. Those who wish to ban the use of lethal autonomous weapon systems define them much less broadly and do not require them to do much more than to be a self-standing part of the causal chain.The article’s argument is that the question of responsibility is most naturally perceived by abandoning the most controversial philosophical considerations and simply stating that an individual or a group of people is always responsible for the creation of the equipment they produce and use. This does not mean that those who press the button, or their immediate superiors, are to blame. They are doing their jobs in a system. The ones responsible can probably be found in higher military leadership, in political decision-makers who dictate their goals, and, at least in democracies, in the citizens who have chosen their political decision-makers.

THE ADVANTAGES OF PROMOTING LEARNERS’ AUTONOMY IN EFL CONTEXT

This paper explains why learner autonomy is taken into account in language learning where English is a foreign language for the learners particularly in Indonesia. The definition of learner autonomy and its advantages to language learner in EFL contexts will be described within this paper. Many scholars from psychological education and English teaching and learning had proved that language learning can be improved by certain strategy. They revealed the correlation between the autonomous learning with students’ success in learning with different aspect. The definition of autonomy is similar to many different words such as self-regulated and self-determined. Finally, the writer suggests how teacher can promote the autonomous learning atmosphere in the classroom.Keywords: strategy, promoting autonomy, EFL context, Indonesia

Control and Machine Intelligence for System Autonomy

Autonomous systems evolve from control systems by adding functionalities that increase the level of system autonomy. It is very important to the research in the field that autonomy be well defined and so in the present paper a precise, useful definition of autonomy is introduced and discussed. Autonomy is defined as the ability of the system to attain a set of goals under a set of uncertainties. This leads to the notion of degrees or levels of autonomy. The Quest for Autonomy in engineered systems throughout the centuries is noted, connections to research work of 30 years ago are made and a hierarchical functional architecture for autonomous systems together with needed functionalities are outlined. Adaptation and Learning, which are among the most important functions in achieving high levels of autonomy are then highlighted and recent research contributions are briefly discussed.

A conceptual framework of autonomous and automated agents

ABSTRACTRecent human-automation interaction research has confused concepts of automation and autonomy and has critiqued theories of automation in human-systems in terms of aspects of autonomy. This situation has led to inappropriate expectation for design and misdirected criticism of design methods. The situation is not new and has origins in historical human factors research. I differentiate the concepts of automation and autonomy with a new framework of agents. The framework is complemented by observations on characteristics of automated vs. autonomous systems, identification of error and failure modes, and formulation of a matrix of design constraints dictating possible applications of each type of agent. Discussion is provided on levels of automation, which have also been criticized in the literature, along with coverage of types of autonomy. A definition of autonomy is mutated throughout the paper to a form with utility for engineering. In general, demands of automated agents on the human-task-environment system should be absent from design of autonomous agents and design of automated systems is always automation-centric despite best efforts at human-centred approaches. Key requirements of design for autonomy include: agent viability in a target context, agent self-governance in goal formulation and fulfilment of roles, and independence in defined tasks performance.

Women's autonomy in health care decision-making in developing countries: a synthesis of the literature.

Autonomy is considered essential for decision-making in a range of health care situations, from health care seeking and utilization to choosing among treatment options. Evidence suggests that women in developing or low-income countries often have limited autonomy and control over their health decisions. A review of the published empirical literature to identify definitions and methods used to measure women’s autonomy in developing countries describe the relationship between women’s autonomy and their health care decision-making, and identify sociodemographic factors that influence women’s autonomy and decision-making regarding health care was carried out. An integrated literature review using two databases (PubMed and Scopus) was performed. Inclusion criteria were 1) publication in English; 2) original articles; 3) investigations on women’s decision-making autonomy for health and health care utilization; and 4) developing country context. Seventeen articles met inclusion criteria, including eleven from South Asia, five from Africa, and one from Central Asia. Most studies used a definition of autonomy that included independence for women to make their own choices and decisions. Study methods differed in that many used study-specific measures, while others used a set of standardized questions from their countries’ national health surveys. Most studies examined women’s autonomy in the context of reproductive health, while neglecting other types of health care utilized by women. Several studies found that factors, including age, education, and income, affect women’s health care decision-making autonomy. Gaps in existing literature regarding women’s autonomy and health care utilization include gaps in the areas of health care that have been measured, the influence of sex roles and social support, and the use of qualitative studies to provide context and nuance.

Determination of the Optimal Degree of Autonomy in a Cyber-Physical Production System

Classical productions systems are migrating step-by-step into cyber-physical production systems. The addition of much more computing power and object-bound data storage will lead to new possibilities for the advancement of autonomy in production systems. Autonomous message exchange and coordination can help to prevent quality problems (for instance wrong pairing of tool and work piece) and improve the disturbance management (for instance by faster information about current and probable disturbances). Due to the fact that nearly all improvements of existing production systems with cyber-physical systems take place in real and active manufacturing sites, on-site experiments to find out the right degree of autonomy for production objects are not suitable. Therefore a lab approach is necessary. In this contribution a hybrid lab approach to simulate various degrees of autonomy is presented [1]. The paper starts with a definition of autonomy and suggests measurement methods [2]. After a short introduction into the lab concept the results of some test runs are presented where autonomous objects perform the same production program as dumb production objects. Finally, an outlook for further research is given.

Determinants of an Appropriate Degree of Autonomy in a Cyber-physical Production System

Classical productions systems are migrating step-by-step into cyber-physical production systems. The addition of much more computing power and object-bound data storage will lead to new possibilities for the advancement of autonomy in production systems. Autonomous message exchange and coordination can help to prevent quality problems (for instance wrong pairing of tool and work piece) and improve the disturbance management (for instance by faster information about current and probable disturbances). Due to the fact that nearly all improvements of existing production systems with cyber-physical systems take place in real and active manufacturing sites, on-site experiments for determining an appropriate degree of autonomy for production objects are not feasible. Therefore, a lab approach is necessary. In this contribution a hybrid lab approach to simulate various degrees of autonomy is presented [1]. The paper starts with a definition of autonomy and suggests diverse measurement methods [2]. After a short introduction into the lab concept, the results of some test runs are presented where autonomous objects perform the same production program as “dumb” production objects. Finally, an outlook for further research is given.

On Perception and Autonomy Considered through the Phenomenological Understanding of Emotion Described by Kym Maclaren

Female philosopher Kym Maclaren, in her article, “Emotional Metamorphoses: The Role of Others in Becoming a Subject,” explores a phenomenological view on emotion as being-in-the-world as well as the ethical implications of understanding emotion in opposition to the moralistic view. In the first part of this paper, I provide an exegetical assessment of Maclaren’s thesis; in the second I introduce a critique of Maclaren’s argument and argue a claim of my own which explores perception and autonomy in the human body along with its implications in the context of Maclaren’s phenomenological account of emotion. I discuss the necessity of both emotion and reason in morality and argue that the traditional definition of autonomy is not plausible when considered through Maclaren’s phenomenological view of emotion. Finally, I work to creatively explore a new definition of autonomy that does cohere with this view. In her article, “Emotional Metamorphoses: The Role of Others in Becoming a Subject,” Kym Maclaren explores a phenomenological view of emotion as being-in-the-world as well as the ethical implications of understanding emotion in opposition to the conventional moralistic view. She introduces three premises: that emotion is “the experience of a tension within reality which brings into question our place within reality;” that expressions of emotion are displays of an individual’s attempts to make sense of her reality with the limited existential resources he possesses; and that others play an essential role in both the ruling out and lending of existential resources with which one can make sense of the world. Maclaren concludes that, “emotion is not opposed to reason, but is rather an essential element of our rational development toward 1 Kym Maclaren, “Emotional Metamorphoses: The Role of Other in Becoming a Subject,” Embodiment and Agency eds. Sue Campbell, Meynell and Sherwin (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2009), 42. Res Cogitans (2015) 6 Grimm | 172 2155-4838 | commons.pacificu.edu/rescogitans autonomous ways of being.” She ultimately proposes that the moralistic attitude is fundamentally dismissive of other’s emotional struggles and may therefore prove harmful to the development of an individual as a subject. This discussion serves to persuade readers into considering a phenomenological view of emotion, particularly in the treatment of other’s expressions of emotion. In the first part of this essay, I provide an exegetical assessment of Maclaren’s thesis; in the second I introduce a critique of Maclaren’s argument and argue a claim of my own which explores perception and autonomy in the human body along with its implications in the context of Maclaren’s phenomenological account of emotion. I discuss the necessity of both emotion and reason in morality and argue that the traditional definition of autonomy is not plausible when considered through Maclaren’s phenomenological view of emotion.

Design of pre-listening tasks in hypermedia environments

In this article, firstly the definition of autonomy will be slightly touched on. Secondly, the categorisation of autonomy will be briefly made. Mainly and finally, what need to be taken into account in order to be able to design and create pedagogically and psychologically effective and useful pre-listening tasks in hypermedia environments for autonomous (intermediate) language learners will be accounted for. The design and development of the pre-listening tasks will be looked at from the points of view of: 1) autonomous language learners; 2) hypermedia environments; 3) findings in the field of foreign/second language learning (FLL/SLL) and computer assisted language learning (CALL). Concrete examples of the pre-listening tasks for autonomous (intermediate) language learners in hypermedia environments will be provided and the assumptions underlying them will be explained.

Design of the while-listening tasks in autonomous hypermedia environments

In this article, firstly the definition of autonomy will be briefly touched on. Secondly, the categorisation of autonomy will be shortly made. Mainly, what needs to be taken into account in order to be able to design and create pedagogically and psychologically effective and useful while listening tasks for autonomous (intermediate) language learners in hypermedia environments, where a wide range of digital elements can be combined and presented on the same digital platform more efficiently for foreign language learning purposes, will be focussed on. While this is done, the needs of autonomous (intermediate) language learners will be accounted for. To be able to present the topic efficiently, concrete examples of the while-listening tasks for autonomous hypermedia environments will be provided and the assumptions underlying them will be explained.

Can we use the notion of normality in genetic selection without discriminating?

With the hope of somehow contributing to the ongoing discussion on the topic, this paper is loosely based on the debate that emerged from Rob Sparrow's article “Should human beings have sex? Sexual dimorphism and human enhancement” (The American Journal of Bioethics, 10, 3–12, 2010). Building on some of his arguments, my claim is that we should not refer to gender when discussing not-yet-born agents. More broadly still, my intention is to provide a further analysis of the intersection of the concepts of gender and autonomy. I will begin by briefly highlighting Sparrow's article and critiques, with special emphasis on the poststructuralist attack. In doing so, I will consider the differences between structuralism and poststructuralism in relation to this debate. Subsequently, I will draw a parallel between Judith Butler's notion of the performativity of gender, sex and Ronald Dworkin's distinction between zoe and bios. The next move will then be to re-divert attention to the crucial role that health plays in the discussion (as instrumental to the “normal” and autonomous functioning of the body), suggesting that one of the substantial differences between human enhancers and non-enhancers is the ranking that health has in their corresponding scale of values. Setting the bar for how an organism functions “normally” will be the last step necessary to create the basis for my main claim: building on Butler's description of the singular agent in relation to others, I will suggest Jürgen Habermas and Onora O'Neill as credible and valuable expansions of a position willing to reconcile individual and relational autonomy, supporting this final claim with the words of Immanuel Kant. If we aim to use genetic engineering and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to prevent unhealthy children from being born – as I shall state we should – we can use this notion of normality in a way that will be accepted also by those who are historically critical of such a way of conceptualising a human being, only if we understand the parallel need for society to shift to a more inclusive and shared definition of autonomy.

Autonomy, Well-Being and the Order of Things: Gilabert on the conditions of social and global justice

Gilabert argues that the humanist conception of duties of global justice and the principle of cosmopolitan justifiability will lead us to accept an egalitarian definition of individual autonomy. Gilabert further argues that realizing conditions of individual autonomy can serve as the cut-off point to duties of global justice. I investigate his idea of autonomy, arguing that in order to make sense of this claim, we need a concept of autonomy. I propose 4 possible definitions of autonomy, none of which seem to necessitate Gilabert’s duties of egalitarian global justice. Instead, I propose that he may have in mind Autonomy 5, which requires that individuals have access to a maximum number of options and not simply a sufficient range of options to choose from. I criticize this premise as too demanding in the global world characterized by fundamental inequality. Second, I argue that if we were to endorse the preconditions for Autonomy 5, we would have to accept that Gilabert’s theory of global justice doesn’t provide for a cut-off point of duties of global justice.

The Role of Competition and Collaboration in Influencing the Level of Autonomy and Belonging in System of Systems

Prior to this research, autonomy and belonging were perceived as two independent and distinguishing characteristics of system of systems. The objective of this paper is to explore the interdependency of autonomy and belonging, and the role of competition and collaboration among constituent elements to influence the level of autonomy and belonging. The definition of autonomy and belonging are restated using the multiattribute utility theory. Using this theory, competitions and collaborations are modeled as redistributing resources (or values, norms, etc.) to influence the level of autonomy and belonging. The proposed mathematical model is applied in a system of systems of swarm robots to present its applicability and validity. The result shows the impact of competition and collaboration among constituent elements of a system of systems on autonomy and belonging in that system of systems. The proposed mathematical conceptualization is applicable in understanding, engineering, and governing wide-spread system of systems.

Autonomy in Neuroethics: Political and Not Metaphysical

This article examines and refutes the claims that neuroscientific evidence renders autonomy “quixotic” and thus supports a shift toward paternalism in medical and political decision-making. The author argues that the notion of autonomy has been mistakenly associated with the metaphysical concept of free will, and offers a political definition of autonomy to clarify how responsibility is implicitly grounded in the legal and political system: An agent acts autonomously when she/he (a) endorses decisions and acts in accord with internal motivational states, (b) shows commitment to them in the absence of undue coercion and compulsion, and (c) could as a reasonable and rational person continue to do so after a period of informed critical reflection. The author further argues that neuroscientific findings confirm the assumption that humans are fundamentally fallible social creatures and explain the mechanisms of openness to the social world, which can be and sometimes are abused. A naturalistic framework does not dispute autonomy or rights, but it does point toward means of manipulation and toward areas in which further legal protection of rights and autonomous choice is needed. The author concludes by clarifying the ideal-typical degrees of coercion (indirect, direct and total) and compulsion (mild, severe and total) that serve the purpose of qualifying reduction of autonomy and responsibility in certain cases, and elaborating the middle-ground position between the “moral” and “brain disease” model of addiction.