The Two Autonomies

In reading my page on my philosophy, a reader critiqued my view of autonomy, arguing from determinism that autonomy cannot truly exist. In the case of libertarian free will, they are correct. The universe moves as it does and our minds have no escape hatch from causality. However, that is never what I meant from autonomy.

One kind of autonomy focuses on the individual's ability to be free from outside restraints. An extreme form of this is wanting to be free from any kind of external forces. Clearly this is untenable. This is why I do not advocate for this kind of isolationist, individual autonomy. We cannot break causality.

Instead, I advocate for collective, interpersonal autonomy. We become more capable of expressing our wills (and thus freer) by collaborating with one another. We are less able to be subjugated by outside forces and bent towards their will. We are restricted less and are able to do more.

This kind of autonomy can exist regardless of whether libertarian free will exists. It's a tangible reality rather than a matter of metaphysical speculation.