Autonomy (Greek: Auto-Nomos - nomos meaning "law": one who gives oneself his/her own law) is the right to self-government. Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political, and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it refers to the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, uncoerced decision. In moral and political philosophy, autonomy is often used as the basis for determining moral responsibility for one's actions. One of the best known philosophical theories of autonomy was developed by Kant. In medicine, respect for the autonomy of patients is an important goal for doctors and other health-care professionals, though it can conflict with a competing ethical principle, beneficence. Politically, it is also used to refer to the self-governing of a people. Look up autonomy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Nomos (plural: Nomoi) can refer to: the prefectures of Greece, the administrative division immediately below the peripheries of Greece (Greek: νομός, νομοί) the subdivisions of Ancient Egypt, see Nome (subnational division) law (Greek: νόμος, νόμοι). It is the origin of the suffix -onomy. ... For other uses, see Law (disambiguation). ... Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization. ... For other uses, see Concept (disambiguation). ... This article is about the use of the moral in storytelling. ... Politics is the process by which decisions are made within groups. ... Bioethics is the ethics of biological science and medicine. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Rational may be: the adjective for the state of rationality acting according to the philosophical principles of rationalism a mathematical term for certain numbers; the rational numbers the software company Rational Software; now owned by IBM, and formerly Rational Software Corporation This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which... As commonly used, individual refers to a person or to any specific object in a collection. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a Prussian philosopher, generally regarded as one of Europes most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. ... For the chemical substances known as medicines, see medication. ...

Politics

In politics, autonomy refers to self-governance. In the past few decades, a large movement of Autonomism has emerged amongst the anti-capitalist Left, merging with pieces of Marxism, social democracy, Anarchism, the Inclusive Democracy project, and the Anti-Globalization Movement. Raised fist, stenciled protest symbol of Autonome at the Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus in Vienna, Austria Autonomism refers to a set of left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. ... Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... Anarchist redirects here. ... The theoretical project of Inclusive Democracy (ID; as distinguished from the political project which is part of the democratic and autonomy traditions) emerged from the work of political philosopher, former academic and activist Takis Fotopoulos in Towards An Inclusive Democracy, Cassell/Continuum, London/New York, 1997, 401 pp. ... Anti-WEF grafiti in Lausanne. ...

Philosophy

The word autonomy ha several usages in philosophical contexts. In ethics, autonomy refers to a person's capacity for self-determination in the context of moral choices. Kant argued that autonomy is demonstrated by a person who decides on a course of action out of respect for moral duty. That is, an autonomous person acts morally solely for the sake of doing "good", independently of other incentives. In Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, Kant applied this concept to create a definition of personhood. He suggested that such compliance with moral law creates the essence of human dignity. In metaphysical philosophy, the concept of autonomy is referenced in discussions about free will, fatalism, determinism, and agency. Autonomy is the basic concept of Cornelius Castoriadis' philosophy which concerns the explicit self-institution of society as well it is a basic fundation of the political philosopher Takis Fotopoulos. For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a Prussian philosopher, generally regarded as one of Europes most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... This article is about virtue. ... Cornelius Castoriadis (Greek: Κορνήλιος Καστοριάδης) (March 11, 1922-December 26, 1997) was a Greek-French philosopher, economist and psychoanalyst. ... Takis Fotopoulos (born October 14, 1940) is a Greek political writer and former academic. ...

Religion

In the theology of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) there is a debate over free will vs. predestination; which is ultimately a debate about "autonomy". If there is free will, mankind is a society of autonomous beings, at least as far as their time on Earth is concerned. The debate concerns how much of a person's actions are dependent upon his own will, and how much is determined beforehand by God. Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Free-Will is a Japanese independent record label founded in 1986. ... Predestination (also linked with foreknowledge) is a religious concept, which involves the relationship between the beginning of things and their destinies. ...

In the Eastern Orthodox Church when a church body is given "autonomy" it is permitted to rule itself internally, but still remains nominally subject to the mother church to which it belongs. An autonomous church is permitted to elect its own primate, but the primate must be consecrated by the Patriarch of the mother church. Orthodox icon of Pentecost. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Primate (from the Latin Primus, first) is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. ... To consecrate an inanimate object is to dedicate it in a ritual to a special purpose, usually religious. ...

Medicine

In a medical context, respect for a patient's autonomy is considered a fundamental ethical principle. This belief is the central premise of the concept of informed consent. This idea, while considered essential to today's practice of medicine, was developed in the last 50 years. According to Beauchamp and Childress (in Principles of Biomedical Ethics), the Nuremberg trials detailed accounts of horrifyingly exploitative medical "experiments." These incidences prompted calls for safeguards in medical research. In the 1940s, the phrase "informed consent" appeared but didn't become widely used until the 1970s. Initially, discussions about informed consent focused almost exclusively on research subjects, but eventually has come to apply to the conventional physician-patient relationship as well. The seven elements of informed consent (as defined by Beauchamp) include threshold elements (Competence and Voluntariness), information elements (Disclosure, Recommendation, and Understanding) and consent elements (Decision and Authorization.) Informed consent is a legal condition whereby a person can be said to have given consent based upon an appreciation and understanding of the facts and implications of an action. ...

Restrictions on autonomy

Autonomy can be, and usually is to one extent or another, waived to another authority, such as by agreeing to follow governing laws. The actions available to an autonomous unit can be restricted by a more powerful authority, such as when a cattleman sets a fence around his herd, or a court sentences a criminal to prison. The decisions of an autonomous unit can be coerced, and its actions forced. Autonomy can be restricted through the aspect of the ability to act, as in the case of a newborn or through the aspect of the ability to decide as in the case of a person in a coma.

Space systems

Autonomy is an increasing feature of space systems with two objectives

• Mandatory for new functions:

e.g. several spacecrafts in formation flight adjust their relative positions so that interferometric measurements with wide basis can be performed

• Cost reduction:

e.g. failure detection and recovery by spacecraft system without ground station involvement reduces Up-/Downlink useage and reduces operational costs on ground.

Various uses

• In computing, an autonomous peripheral is one that can be used with the computer turned off
• Within self-determination theory in psychology, autonomy refers to 'autonomy support versus control', "hypothesizing that autonomy-supportive social contexts tend to facilitate self-determined motivation, healthy development, and optimal functioning."
• In mathematical analysis, an autonomous ordinary differential equation is time-independent.
• In linguistics, an autonomous language is one which is independent of other languages, for example has a standard, grammar books, dictionaries, literature etc.
• In robotics "autonomy means independence of control. This characterization implies that autonomy is a property of the relation between two agents, in the case of robotics, of the relations between the designer and the autonomous robot. Self-sufficiency, situatedness, learning or development, and evolution increase an agent’s degree of autonomy.", according to Rolf Pfeifer.
• In economics, autonomous consumption is consumption expenditure when income levels are zero, making spending autonomous to income.

For an account of the words periphery and peripheral as they are used in biology, sociology, politics, computer hardware, and other fields, see the periphery disambiguation page. ... Self-determination theory (SDT) is a general theory of human motivation concerned with the development and functioning of personality within social contexts. ... In mathematics, an ordinary differential equation (or ODE) is a relation that contains functions of only one independent variable, and one or more of its derivatives with respect to that variable. ... For the journal, see Linguistics (journal). ... An autonomous language or variety is usually a standard language that has its own established norms, as opposed to a heteronomous variety. ... The Shadow robot hand system holding a lightbulb. ... Autonomous robots are robots which can perform desired tasks in unstructured environments without continuous human guidance. ... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... Autonomous consumption is a term used to describe consumption expenditure that occurs when income levels are zero. ...

See also

• Autonomism
• Teaching for social justice
• Post-autonomous art
• Viable System Model
• Territorial Autonomy