Abstract

Recent feminist and nonfeminist theory on autonomy has tended to depict autonomy as something individuals either have or do not have. One is autonomous when one satisfies certain conditions nonautonomous when one does not. I argue that this approach is problematic both because it misconstrues this notion and because it may have untoward consequences for women and members of oppressed groups in general. Autonomy should be conceived of as a matter of degree, with its different degrees having relevance and value for different reasons. ;In exploring the pitfalls of failing to make distinctions between types and degrees of autonomy, I discuss John Christman's content-neutral account of autonomy and Natalie Stoljar's content-specific account of autonomy. Christman's minimalist or thin account accords with what we should view as normal autonomy, whereas Stoljar's proposals have relevance for what we should view as normative or ideal autonomy. ;Each, however, conflates these senses of autonomy. In doing so, Christman obscures autonomy that agents do not have, thereby impeding their ability to develop autonomy and, in the case of women, to resist subordination. In doing so, Stoljar not only renders agents more vulnerable to paternalism, and other kinds of disrespectful and potentially autonomy-diminishing forms of behavior, but also obscures autonomy that they do have. This too may impede the growth of autonomy. ;In the second half of the essay I present an account of "normative" autonomy that speaks to the concerns of feminists and that incorporates important feminist insights. I theorize normative autonomy as admitting of degrees with its low point being normal autonomy and its highpoint being unattainable. Developing autonomy above the normal level requires developing imaginative, introspective, reasoning and communicative abilities as well as a greater attunement to the role affectivity plays in facilitating the ability to gain self-knowledge, to form personal ideals and to transform the self. Here I also examine how different patterns of innovative cultural figuration and the transformation of "the lived body" may foster these abilities