Biology think, organs, cells and organelles as part of individual organisms, can automate some life activities, called their autonomy. For example: mitochondria, chloroplasts and other cellular organelles with the DNA, certain proteins may be generated to accomplish their function, without the need for guidance nuclear chromatin, uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells, damage the internal balance of the body. All these have shown them a certain degree of autonomy. ]
Aristotle, Kant, Marx, who thought autonomy laid the foundation for us to establish a scientific concept of autonomy. One of autonomy not do whatever they want, but in the subject to the object needs to recognize and rely on, the main object of constraints on the premise of people reflected in the practical activities of the main characteristics. Autonomy not get the concept of the show in an abstract sense, but has a social and historical foundation of reality.
"Autonomy" of the word, is used widely in many fields of social life today. But what exactly is autonomy? It should be understood on autonomy in what sense? The answer to this question, manifold, special words hide. The reason for this situation, in large part because autonomy is a topic more a discipline of philosophy, political science, ethics, law and other fields are involved, different universe gives this topic different connotations. Here only on the philosophical level to do a study on the development of the autonomy of thought, lay the foundation for establishing a scientific concept of autonomy.
First, Aristotle, Kant, Marx, who thought autonomy
English, autonomous (autono my) word comes from two ancient Greek words: autos and no mo s, which literally means self-rule, self-directed, self-management, self dominate. Of course, the "self ××" mainly for the purposes of the city ﹑ countries. Just as some philosophers have pointed out, the "independent" when the word was first used by the ancient Greeks, refers to the small city-state power management of their own country attached great city internal affairs.
We need to start to look at the ancient Greek city-state of understanding. Ancient Greek philosopher has long recognized the existence of the necessary city. They believe that there is some link between people, individuals can not leave the others exist, and the city is an important form of human organization can exist. Plato said: "In my opinion, the reason for the establishment of a city-state, because each of us can not on its own achieve self-sufficiency, we need a lot of things." Aristotle has even more people as "political animal" , said: "when individuals are open isolation he is no longer self-sufficient; as part of the overall the same thing can not survive in society or something because of self-sufficiency and no such need, it is not part of the city, it is. either a beast or a god, humans are born into a social instinct, ...... person once perfected is the best of animals, but once out of the law and justice will degenerate into the worst animal. "[from survival life needs, people need to collaborate with each other, cooperate with each other, requiring such exchanges and the desire to promote the combination, to promote the production of city, community. Aristotle further believes that a good city is not only beneficial to people exchanges, but also "self-sufficient" feature. "City is not to prevent injuries and to promote mutual trade and live in the same area. If the city to be present, then these things must have. But even if they should be complete, so the city does not exist. Polis is a number of families and tribes to share good living, that is self-sufficient and perfect life constituted. polis "this has a" self-sufficient "characteristic would have autonomy. In Aristotle view, autonomy is both a city-state should pursue the highest goal, is also an important feature of the city with good.
In the autonomous city-state characteristics, citizens and rulers also has what features it? What role they were Aristotle in his book "Politics", the made a vivid metaphor to act as it?. He citizen in the city compared to the sailors on the ship, and the rulers of the city compared to the helmsman, wise helmsman richer than the average person. His overall grasp, weigh a variety of factors, constraints, considering their requirements and objectives, and then make the most optimized selection, to exercise the role of "helmsman" in. Such "helmsman" type of ruler is autonomous.
In addition, when it comes to Aristotle were two types of friendship, but also related to the autonomy issue. In his view, the interaction between people of different friendship between friends pursued purpose. Some people tried to benefit by association, or material gain, to make up for the lack of their own wealth; or is mentally able to get rid of loneliness, bring pleasure to meet. Unlike the utilitarian basis in this groundbreaking exchanges, some people pursue the friendship itself, in addition to much else. For the former human, material and spiritual deprivation and need is engaged in communication, motivation and driving force for the establishment of friendship, friendship, so it became his ways and means to achieve external purposes. The latter itself is the pursuit of purpose, is to choose to interact with others, build friendships without any utilitarian requirements of the situation. Such a person is autonomous, with a certain degree of independence.
After Aristotle, for the development of independent thought of as belonging to a major contribution to Kant. In Europe, humanitarian ideas, especially influenced by the French Enlightenment thinker Rousseau, Kant's philosophy permeated with a strong humanistic background. He opposed the mechanical materialist view of man as a machine, that man is a finite rational being, belongs to two worlds, is effected by two laws. In the field of pure reason (the phenomenal world), people have been dominated by the law of cause and effect nature, subject to the inevitable laws of nature, there is no freedom, autonomy at all; in the field of practical reason, people for their own inherent and inevitable act of their choice, to determine their own lives, which is autonomous. He pointed out: "Humans can only establish their ultimate purpose in the culture, irrational human nature can only become self-established means to an end, materials and tools." "Your action, put humanity in your own personal, and the other person in human nature, at all times the same as an end, never merely as a means. "in this way, people would be an end, the ultimate value of human thus been established.
From this subjective philosophy, Kant further pointed out that the essence of "good" was consistent with the will of good, will. Wise, wisdom, strength and so on itself is not good, because they are "good" depends on the good will. Wisdom, for example, only when not using the evil purpose of wisdom when it may be "good". In this way, the moral value of things such as the wisdom of experience will depend on external factors. On the contrary, good will is good in itself, it does not require the aid does not succumb to any external causal factors. In order to eradicate the effects of environmental factors extrinsic contingencies, moral values must be linked with the practical reason. Thus, the moral values on particular environment is not the behavior is determined, nor is it the result caused by the behavior (such as the use, benefits, etc.) to decide, but only exists in the act itself, just listen to their will. In order to obtain this pure goodness, Kant further put forward the principle of universality:. "No matter what, you should always be done so that the guidelines will be followed at the same time can never become a principle of universal legislation" This way, the moral behavior without reference to any particular value on experience and causal factors to determine, but only in the obedience of a good will, subject to a moral imperative. By the moral values of behavior based solely on common law, a person can only be because of moral responsibility itself and not only to act for a specific purpose in a specific external environment. Such behavior has a moral value is "independent" of.
German classical philosophy critically inheriting the results on the basis of Marx's autonomy has been further explored. In the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844", when it comes to the nature of alienation of workers labor under private ownership conditions, Marx said: "The labor of workers is something external, that is, not part of his nature; therefore he was not sure in his own labor, but denies himself, is not happy, but unfortunately was not free to play to their physical and mental, but to make their flesh tormented spirit was destroyed. Therefore, workers outside the labor only feel comfortable, but the labor is uncomfortable, he felt comfortable when not working, and in the labor feel uncomfortable. Therefore, his work is not voluntary labor, but was forced to Thus forced labor, this labor not satisfy a need, but only a means to meet the needs of those outside the labor ...... for workers, labor in the external manifestations: this work is not his own but someone else's; the labor does not belong to him;.. he does not own in labor, but belongs to someone else ...... workers' activity is not his spontaneous activity of his activity belongs to someone else, such activity is his self Loss. "[8]" the self-alienation of labor activity, freedom of movement as a means to belittle, but also put people's lives become a means of maintaining class human flesh to survive. "Thus, Marx is to the human activities the self-understanding, self-activity is alienated labor relative. In other words, in the autonomous activities, people are voluntary, not forced, is assured of their own rather than deny their own labor is not an end in itself but a means to meet the external needs.
In "German Ideology", Marx began to contact the social material production, in the process of social history to examine the situation of human locomotor activity. He said: "These different conditions, this is the first condition of spontaneous activity, but later became its shackles, they constitute the entire course of historical development in the form of a sequence of exchanges of links, link exchanges in the form of lies: It has become the shackles of the old form of communication is adapted to the more developed productive forces, and thus adapt to new forms of individual autonomy more progressive type of activity exchanges replaced; new forms of communication to turn into shackles and other forms of interaction replaced, because these conditions at each stage of historical development are related to the development of productivity during the same period to adapt, so their history is also a significant development for each new generation to bear down the productivity of history, so also the history of the development of the power of the individuals themselves. "It is from the social productive forces and production relations contradictions, Marx revealed the man's essential powers, the autonomy of the historical process of human development.
Later, Marx is specifically addressed in the degree of development of different human autonomy social and historical stage. He said: "The dependency of people (at first entirely naturally occurring), is the first form of society, in this form, the human capacity only in a narrow range and on the development of the isolated location to matter. dependency-based people's independence, is the second largest form, in this form, before the formation of the general social metabolism, a wide range of needs and overall capacity of the system, based on the comprehensive development of individuals and their common social productivity as their social wealth on the basis of free individuality, is the third phase. "in the first phase, the relationship between people is to limit, the direct intermediary to establish extensive ties has not yet passed, just a comfortable relationship with the natural form of blood as a link. Entered the second phase, comfortable relationships between people have a social and political nature, and alienation began to be materialized, everyone began to occupy social power in the form of matter. Enter the third stage, materialization and alienation to be abandoned, human social labor is completely free and conscious labor, relations between people are self is relationship. Freedom of labor created man all-round development. They have the perfect universal human nature, also has a rich, vibrant personality.
Compare Second, several major autonomy of thought
For the above several autonomous thought, we find that the differences between them. First, Aristotle, Kant, Marx and other thinkers to talk about the autonomy of the problem from different angles. Aristotle mainly from the political point of talking about autonomy, meaning their autonomy is relatively broad. Subject autonomy can either city, the country, can also be personal. On the city, in terms of countries, the autonomy of the performance of the "autonomy" that is able to independently manage, decided the city, the country's internal affairs. Achieve such autonomy premise is "self-sufficient", not because of lack of materials and resources and controlled by others. Personally, autonomy is not only reflected in the dominant external factors, but also in control of their own to go beyond the utilitarian needs. Kant mainly from the perspective of ethics, moral values of the people in the sense of moral personality, human behavior up to talk about autonomy. Here is a self-important subject of human ability. The concept of autonomy is mainly reflected in the people's will, the body can freely use of reason, to take "autonomous" action. Marx mainly from the point of view of philosophical anthropology, human understanding of autonomy in human activities. Autonomy with respect to compulsory, forced terms. In locomotor activity, the actors are in the course of the real "master" activities, can assert themselves in the activities, possession of instruments of labor, choose the way of labor, products of labor allocation have certain rights. The alienation of labor is "determined by necessity and mundane purpose to do work", but not for production workers in accordance with the purpose of other people (capitalists) according to their own purposes.
Secondly, various thinkers in the elucidation of the autonomy of thought, which will consider external factors, but in understanding the external factors, but there are different. If a careful analysis of Aristotle metaphor about the "helmsman", we will find that Aristotle is to recognize the external environment, positive objective factors in the behavior of the decision. Helmsman of the decision made, action taken to assess the value, to determine whether it is "good", with changes to the external environment, people's changes. In this way, external factors affect the judgment on the moral values of the linked together. External factors does not simply as a threat to personal autonomy. If too strong external factors (such as the big waves), and the impact, threatening the pilot's ability to control their own boat sailor, then, as he led the function and meaning "helmsman" on threatened. Conversely, if the external factors only influence the way people control course, controlling the ship, without the ability to make control of the ship by a fundamental threat, and that pilot sailor is "helmsman", he is autonomous. In other words, Aristotle here, autonomy presupposes recognition of the influence of external factors, but this effect will not reach the degree of interference and even deprived of the power to the city. Kant advocated moral value judgment should be pure but pure and can not be influenced by any external factors. In his view, if moral values allow external factors determination, then a person may succumb to external factors, these external factors in turn may ultimately determine behavior, this is not a person but external factors become the real "helmsman." When the external factors that determine the behavior of the moral values of the time, people have been subjected to exile, it reduced to a subordinate position, into a passive role. This subjectivity of Kant attaches great importance to people's opinion, is absolutely unacceptable. So, he put any external factors that are clear to the outside of the determination of the behavior of moral values, so that if an action has moral value judgment on a similar formula into a purely mathematical reasoning. Marx Materialism, the historical process of the investigation and the autonomy of human society linked to considering the development of autonomy within the framework of grand social history. Marx said people living in a specific time and space in the social history of real people, there are people all historically subject to specific constraints of his social relations where he also developed specific ground realities change social relations now developing. Therefore, to discuss autonomy is not to find time this external social factors (in fact can not),
Again, to discuss autonomy, different people's understanding of various thinkers. For Aristotle, one can control the masters of their own is a key element of "autonomy" of. In order to reflect the dominant person in the actual operation, able to control their own behavior, people want to have a comprehensive grasp of the environment, external factors. Before making his decision to act, this comprehensive grasp became a factor in the decision of a reference. External factors, this reaction only after people recognize, after assessment, one can truly become "autonomous" elements. Autonomous behavior requires not only people's rational knowledge, wisdom foundation, but also have plenty of choice. Only individuals faced with the same choice, you can choose this can also choose to reverse that, only when such a decision before a variety of options to realize the full autonomy of the people. Full range of options is a manifestation, an important condition to play an active role in a person. Kant pointed out that in the field of practical reason, the person is autonomous, people can decide their own, can really achieve their purpose, reflecting the noble human nature. But Kant put all external factors affecting human subjectivity plays are swept away, will explore the autonomy arrest caught in abstract moral field, such autonomy, freedom can only be a reasonable "postulate", in real life It is not really achievable. Marx's historical process of social contact, understanding the development of human autonomy in social production activities, the idea is different from the genius of Marx and other thinkers. He was the source of autonomy is to find a solid social foundation, with a powerful explanation for differences in the root of the autonomy of the situation. Autonomy is not to find time to explore the external factors, but beyond the domination and control of external factors, reflecting the subjectivity of being human, social relations, and personal interaction conditions with adaptation.
Third, the basic connotation of scientific autonomy
The concept of the autonomy of the individual thinker, although this kind of differences, but they were from synchronic and diachronic two dimensions Reflections on autonomy issues from different sides provides for the establishment of a scientific study from the subjective nature of the activities in line with human reasonable angle and composition factors.
First of all, autonomy is the one who has the main characteristics (including subjectivity autonomy, initiative, creativity). Only autonomy in touch with people up, to understand the sense of the people, explain the connotation of autonomy in order to make a reasonable explanation of the concept. All external factors affecting the behavior of people is achieved by transforming human knowledge of the outside world. Before he made the decision to act, he was outside in understanding and grasp of the environment has become a major factor in the decision. Man's impact on the surrounding environment, external factors after the formation of knowledge, it may be combined with their own needs, considering the ability to do, and then make a move. In this way, the actual perpetrator of an expression of human subjectivity. Therefore, the external factors, the environment has a certain influence on human behavior, but this does not affect the autonomy of the people to play. People in the decision-making process of the formation of purposes, must be subject to the constraints of the external environment, at this time it is not optional external environment factors, but prescriptive reality. However, the impact of external factors, this reaction only after people recognize, after assessment, one can truly become "autonomous" elements. It is a predetermined independent of the internal human body, is an essential feature or characteristics as a human body, and therefore can be called autonomous. Autonomy is confirmed the dominant position of the people, indicating that people have a certain ability, authority and responsibility. People can call the main reason why, first of all is that he has autonomy. Whether it is to talk about self-activity still want to talk about individual autonomy, it must be combined with subjective human point of view. Voluntary activity is fundamentally the activities of human autonomy.
Secondly, autonomy is a relationship category. Close contact with the little, since the objective factors, the external conditions of the human will, there is a desire to restrict the role to a certain extent, this objective factors will be adjusted to some extent, to modify his will, action and content of action . In the reality of human activities, specific constraints of this environment will be in his decisions and actions looming reflected, inherently plays a role. Autonomy inherent in things network of relationships among structure. Made basis "helmsman" behavior Aristotle metaphor, is a comprehensive grasp of external environmental factors and its own conditions on the external environment and objective factors play an important role in determining the impact on the behavior of . "Helmsman" of behavior is not imagining, but a conscious choice based on the reality of the relationship formed between the impact on the environment, people's own condition and make. In this case, the external environment on human behavior not only show restraint, but at the same time as the main purpose of forming, to achieve the aspirations provide the conditions. Autonomy is the main manifestation of an understanding of this relationship, grasp and into the beyond. In the wider world, among all kinds of things are interrelated and influence each other, there is definitely something in isolation, therefore, to discuss autonomy only in this connection in the network to explore, not only by virtue of subjective wishes wishful thinking to claim that there is no condition of abstract autonomy. Human existence, enjoyment, development needs, in certain economic, political and cultural environment in order to be met. This determines the existence of interaction between human needs and the environment, the relationship between interaction and human autonomy can only be manifested in the relationship between a particular environment autonomously. Marx pointed out that when a person "if he wants to choose, he would always be inside his sphere, in no way to be selected by the middle of some of the things he alone caused the."
Once again, autonomy and self-willed different. Promote autonomy is not arbitrary, but rather to recognize objects and constraints limiting the body's own inherent premise of the main requirements to play inherent potential to create the conditions to go beyond external constraints, effectively master the principles of object. Autonomy is that people consciously recognize, understand and transcend limited and restricted, change from passive to active, new freedom in the face of the inevitable. In other words, to promote people's autonomy is not arbitrary, but has its specific preconditions and based on the internal. Negative constraints of the external environment and object, the autonomy of people lost objects premise and practical significance. On the other hand, left the creative activity of people's conscious dynamic, subject and object relationship between man and external factors can never established, there can be no development and implementation. Not arbitrary autonomy performance, but only a self-willed. This concept of the people's will, desire, required above the relationships of real life, not do whatever they want to be understood as independent of any provision of unconditional reality. So people can not see the real life of independence and the process of internal consistency. Marx said:? "If our history of freedom only to the forest to look for, then the history of our freedom and the history of freedom of the wild boar, what difference does it make Besides everyone knows what to call out in the forest, there is an echo of what was. Do not violate the original Teutonic forest it! "only in the interplay of various factors of an objective reality, interaction, interaction of in order to reflect the autonomy.
Finally, the self is not an abstract, emotional always exist in social reality, and with the progress of social history and evolving. Autonomy not get the concept of the show in an abstract sense, but the sensibility embodied in the real-life activities, has a social and historical foundation of reality. Achieve autonomy is a long process, not the result of a once and for all.