Autonomy and the Self

This volume addresses the complex interplay between the conditions of an agent’s personal autonomy and the constitution of her self in light of two influential background assumptions: a libertarian thesis according to which it is essential for personal autonomy to be able to choose freely how one’s self is shaped, on the one hand, and a line of thought following especially the seminal work of Harry Frankfurt according to which personal autonomy necessarily rests on an already sufficiently shaped self, on the other hand. Given this conceptual framework, a number of influential aspects within current debate can be addressed in a new and illuminating light: accordingly, the volume’s contributions range from 1) discussing fundamental conceptual interconnections between personal autonomy and freedom of the will, 2) addressing the exact role and understanding of different personal traits, e.g. Frankfurt’s notion of volitional necessities, commitments to norms and ideals, emotions, the phenomenon of weakness of will, and psychocorporeal aspects, 3) and finally taking into account social influences, which are discussed in terms of their ability to buttress, to weaken, or even to serve as necessary preconditions of personal autonomy and the forming of one’s self. The volume thus provides readers with an extensive and most up-to-date discussion of various influential strands of current philosophical debate on the topic. It is of equal interest to all those already engaged in the debate as well as to readers trying to get an up-to-date overview or looking for a textbook to use in courses.

Michael Kuhler is private lecturer (“Privatdozent”) and Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Study in Bioethics at the University of Munster, Germany. His areas of specialization include ethics, metaethics, political philosophy and the philosophy of love. He has written a book on moral justification and motivation (Moral und Ethik – Rechtfertigung und Motivation. Ein zweifaches Verstandnis von Moralbegrundung, Mentis, 2006) and has just finished a second book project on the relation between “ought” and “can” (Sollen ohne Konnen? Uber Sinn und Geltung nicht erfullbarer Sollensanspruche, Mentis, forthcoming). Currently, he is working on, among other things, the relation between personal autonomy and love.Nadja Jelinek was Research Fellow at the University of Konstanz, Germany, from 2005-2009. Currently she is about to finish her doctoral thesis, dedicated to a close examination of the relation between normativity and freedom/autonomy in the works of Harry Frankfurt, Charles Taylor and authors following the theory of George Herbert Mead. Her main research interests are, apart from theories of freedom and autonomy, theories of personhood and moral philosophy, especially applied ethics.