Alfred Mele’s Voluntaristic Conception of Autonomy

Abstract

In this contribution, I want to bring out a paradox in contemporary thinking about personal autonomy. On the plausible assumption that autonomy is a necessary condition for moral responsibility, this paradox besets our thinking about the latter issue as well. Here, however, I shall limit the discussion to the autonomy-paradox. Roughly, the paradox is that on one view of autonomy an agent S in a certain state of mind M is judged nonautonomous, whereas on another view of autonomy the same agent S in the same state M is judged autonomous or authentic. To make my point, I shall focus on Alfred Mele’s recent book Autonomous Agents. From Self-Control to Autonomy.¹