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Autonomy makes a person the sovereign authority over her or his own li — Autonomy

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"Autonomy makes a person the sovereign authority over her or his own life, in recognition of the fact that we each have only one life and that what happens in it – what happens to “us” - is our most special and intimate concern. Although political philosophers might sometimes make heavy weather of it, this is a perfectly familiar and comprehensible idea (as indeed it must be to qualify as a compelling personal and political ideal that can be taken to heart by people like us). Ronald Dworkin contributes the following memorable image: Each person follows a more or less articulate conception of what gives value to life. The scholar who values a life of contemplation has such a conception so does the television-watching, beer-drinking citizen who is fond of saying “This is the life”, though of course he has thought less about the issue and is less able to describe or defend his conception. Having a life-plan – or, more accurately, a “plan for living” - is part and parcel of living life “from the inside”, to borrow Kymlickas useful metaphor."
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Autonomy
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Autonomy
Autonomy
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In developmental psychology and moral, political, bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defined from a human resources perspective, where it denotes a level of discretion granted to an employee in their work. In such cases, autonomy is known to general

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"In some ways autonomy, broadly defined, is not an enforceable right in any useful sense. It is the basis of all fundamental rights – namely to be able to behave and to be treated with the dignity that goes with being human, whatever one is, it is that self that commands respect. This underlies all of the rights of the European Convention. Privacy, freedom of expression etc., are the part-expression of this in positive law, for those situations in which the autonomous individual finds him or herself in the context of society. Then, the autonomy rights of one may clash with those of the other and one will give way. Given that it is the social context that will decide which right has the stronger claim, it must follow that many autonomy claims are unenforceable and privacy rights are weak."
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"Autonomy has been defined in many ways. It has been treated as a synonym of freedom of the will, sovereignty, liberty and self-rule, or equated with self-knowledge, self-development, responsibility, dignity and integrity. It has been identified with self-assertion, critical reflection, freedom form obligation, absence of external causation and knowledge of ones own interests. The concept is related to actions, beleifs, reasons for acting, rules, the will of others, thoughts and principles. Gerald Dworkins illuminating discussion of autonomy points out that the only consistent features in the variety of views and definitions of autonomy are that it is a desirable notion, that it relates to persons, and that the existence of a core meaning is doubtful. Many philosophers emphasise concepts such as freedom and self-definition when discussing autonomy. Thus, Dworkin suggests that autonomy enables people “to define their nature, give meaning and coherence to their lives and take responsibility for the kind of person they are”. John Rawls suggests that “acting autonomously is acting from principles that we would consent to as free and equal rational beings”."
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Autonomy