“the Only Autonomous Decisions Which Are Worthy of Protection Are Those Based Upon Sound Moral Values.” Do You Agree?
Introduction Human beings make decisions about all sorts of things, all of the time. We make decisions each day, differing on the scale of importance and what actually matters. We decide which clothes to put on each morning and what to have for breakfast, as well as deciding to go to war with other nations and to commit actions with very serious consequences. What makes these decisions autonomous, and further more what makes them worthy of protection?
What is autonomy?
An autonomous decision may be described as one that is made freely without undue influence, by a competent person in full knowledge and understanding of the relevant information necessary to make such a decision. According to Beauchamp and Childress ‘Personal autonomy encompasses, at a minimum, self-rule that is free from both controlling interference by others and from certain limitations…’.1 Therefore autonomy and autonomous decisions refer to almost all decisions made by humans on a very regular basis. Which of these very regular decisions deserve to be protected and which may we ignore? Before we tackle which of our autonomous decisions should be respected and followed we must look into why we should have respect for autonomy at all.
According to the Kantian theory,2 respect for autonomy flows from the recognition that all persons have unconditional worth, each having the capacity to determine his or her own moral destiny. Kantian ethics argue that autonomy is based on the human capacity to direct one’s life according to rational principles; rationality is the means to autonomy and autonomous people are considered as being ends in themselves in that they have the capacity to determine their own destiny. And as such must be respected. If this is the case then all autonomous decisions made by humans should be respected, regardless of whether they are based on sound moral principles or not. If humans should be respected because of their ability to direct their lives according to rational
What is autonomy?
An autonomous decision may be described as one that is made freely without undue influence, by a competent person in full knowledge and understanding of the relevant information necessary to make such a decision. According to Beauchamp and Childress ‘Personal autonomy encompasses, at a minimum, self-rule that is free from both controlling interference by others and from certain limitations…’.1 Therefore autonomy and autonomous decisions refer to almost all decisions made by humans on a very regular basis. Which of these very regular decisions deserve to be protected and which may we ignore? Before we tackle which of our autonomous decisions should be respected and followed we must look into why we should have respect for autonomy at all.
According to the Kantian theory,2 respect for autonomy flows from the recognition that all persons have unconditional worth, each having the capacity to determine his or her own moral destiny. Kantian ethics argue that autonomy is based on the human capacity to direct one’s life according to rational principles; rationality is the means to autonomy and autonomous people are considered as being ends in themselves in that they have the capacity to determine their own destiny. And as such must be respected. If this is the case then all autonomous decisions made by humans should be respected, regardless of whether they are based on sound moral principles or not. If humans should be respected because of their ability to direct their lives according to rational