The Evolution of Autonomy

Abstract

This chapter examines the origins of autonomy and outlines the development of autonomy as a value in democratic societies. It is commonly believed that the idea of autonomy was originally restricted to the discourse of interstate relations in ancient Greece. However, early understandings of autonomia were applied to a wide variety of entities, including those of a nonpolitical nature. Individual-level discussion of autonomy emerged prior to the work of Immanuel Kant, furthermore, foreshadowing contemporary theories of personal autonomy and casting new light on the proliferation of autonomy in democracy. Autonomy has burgeoned into a widely endorsed value in free societies, and pejorative connotations of individual autonomy have vanished.