Passage #1:
“the identity of the autonomous, self-determining individual requires a social matrix,” (Taylor, 1985, p. 209) one which for example recognizes that people need to be given “a voice in deliberation about public action.” John Christman also explains that in our contemporary political context, any conception of the citizen as “unconnected to social practices and categories, cultural traditions, and other marks of identity” (Christman, 2009, p. 21) would fail to garner any legitimacy" (page 4)
Response 1:
This passage initially had me reflect on the role that my identity and culture I grew up in affected my sense of self and identity. Something I think about fairly often is how the person I am today is made up of all of the experiences I have had and all of the people who have impacted my life in some way. As it was noted many times throughout the paper, it is important to factor in one's social context as well as place in society when thinking about autonomy. It made me have a momentary existential crisis, thinking about if the path I have chosen for myself is truly what I want and have chosen, or if the various factors of my social upbringing have nudged me in the direction of where I am today. Sometimes I think about the person I could have been, had I not grown up in the environments I was raised in. As someone who has navigated different cultural environments, I feel as if my decision making and how I view myself and the world cannot be separated, and I think it is so interesting how our cultures and social experiences shape us growing up.
Passage 2:
" require that agents hold certain self-regarding attitudes, such as self-respect, self-trust, and self-esteem or self-worth. (Mackenzie, 2017, p. 522; Schemmel, 2021, p. 109) On this latter model, there aren't any moral or epistemic norms that the agent is required to endorse directly, but “her choice-making ought nevertheless to demonstrate certain psychological traits.” (Sperry, 2013, p. 888) An example of this is Diana T. Meyers' autonomy competency view, according to which autonomy involves exercise of a “repertory of coordinated skills” (Meyers, 1987, p. 627) to engage in “self-discovery, self-definition, and self-direction.” (Meyers, 2005, p. 49) Through this process of ongoing reflection, deliberation, and action, a dynamic picture of the authentic self would emerge which reflects the autonomous self."
Response 2:
I find that in periods of uncertainty and when I do not feel especially confident, I tend to struggle more with making choices for myself or even wanting to take control of my life. As is the case with many people upon entering college or undergoing a large transitional phase in life, I tend to feel a lot of imposter syndrome or inferiority compared to my peers. Sometimes I worry that what I chose to study was more based on what I was good at at the time and that the praise I had received for performing well in certain academic areas holed me into an area of study I will not be as passionate about in the future. Looking back on my life, I definitely see how a person's regard for themself affects their autonomy. Now, as I begin thinking about applying to graduate programs, those similar feelings are beginning to bubble to the surface again. I worry about making the best possible choices for my future, and I do not trust that I will get into anywhere or that I am as good or worthy as I think or hope that I actually am. I find myself stalling to study for the GRE or seriously look at schools because I hope that if I wait long enough a decision will be made or I won't have as many options.
Passage 3:
"the ‘presence’ of certain factors – which may be both external and internal – can be a way to assess individual autonomy. That is, we should be looking for the presence of factors like “advocates who recognize the agent as a valued individual…external resources available to him or her…internal factors such as self-confidence and self-assertion, dignity, and security.”"
Response 3:
I like how this view combines both internal and external factors that influence autonomy. I think that throughout the paper there were so many views that complimented or opposed each other about how autonomy is defined and what makes a person autonomous, that I got kind of overwhelmed and lost. I find that with metaphysical concepts like autonomy, there are so many perspectives on how it is defined that it varies so much, and I think that it is kind of a blend of everything, internal, external, social, whatever factors that affect how one can think of a person being autonomous. I also think that the cultural and social context in which autonomy is viewed is also relevant to how we define it. The paper mentioned how gender, oppression, religion, and race affect a person's autonomy because of the hierarchical way that society is structured, and I thought it was interesting how what a person thinks of as a choice or human being autonomous is kind of in relation to one's place in society or the viewpoint that the author is coming from.