Preface to the English edition vii Preface viii Introduction: Autonomy in Everyday Life 1 1 What is Autonomy? A Conceptual Approach 10 Remarks on the history of the concept 11 Negative freedom, positive freedom, autonomy 14 Conditions of individual autonomy 17 Autonomy and rational plans 24 2 Ambivalences 27 Various forms of ambivalence 28 Ambivalence as a disease of the will 32 Is an ambivalent will a healthy will? 34 The ambivalent self 37 Conflicts of ambivalence as conflicts of identity 39 Autonomy and the acceptance of conflicts 41 3 Autonomy and the Meaning of Life 43 Why do we value autonomy? 45 Sisyphus contented 47 Does the meaning of life consist in the satisfaction of desire? 48 The objective meaning of life 52 Mill’s crisis and subjective meaning in life 58 When does the question of meaning arise? 60 4 Autonomy, Self-Knowledge, and Self-Deception 63 Self-knowledge and self-determination 63 Self-deception: how can I be mistaken about myself? 66 How can self-knowledge fail? On fundamental epistemic uncertainties 73 The quantified self 80 5 Autonomy, Self-Thematization, Self-Examination: From Diaries to Blogs 84 Self-examination, self-control, reflection 84 Why diaries? And which diaries? 89 Autonomy in the diary: examples 92 Blogs and the new technologies of self-examination 102 What is the framework of autonomy? 107 6 Autonomous Choice and the Good Life 110 The question of the good life and perfectionism 110 Happiness, autonomy, and meaning 115 The significance of choosing: conditions of an autonomous decision 117 Who actually chooses and in what context? 120 Alienation (and authenticity) 123 Virtue and character 129 7 Private Life 135 Why privacy? 135 Dimensions of privacy 136 Informational privacy, social relationships, and autonomy 139 Autonomous persons in relationships (I) 142 Autonomy and domestic privacy: autonomous persons in relationships (II) 146 Privacy and democratic society 150 8 Social Preconditions of Autonomy 154 What are social conditions? 154 The social constitution of autonomy 156 Autonomy, ideology, and adaptive preferences 162 Social opportunities and justice 169 Between autonomy and oppression: limiting cases 172 9 The Reality of Autonomy 177 Autonomy is not an illusion 177 The significance of social practices 179 Social unfreedom and implicit bias 181 Aspects of moral responsibility 186 Autonomy and the life well lived 189 Notes 193 Bibliography 229 Index 250

“It needs a rare mixture of hermeneutical sensibility, analytical scrutiny, and existentialist imagination to give the individual search for autonomy the right place within the imponderables of one’s life. Beate Roessler, possessing these talents abundantly, is in my view the first one to fully illuminate both the desire and the difficulties we have in finding our own voice in the midst of social obstructions, individual self-misunderstandings, and communicative relationships. Her new book is by far the best philosophical study on this intricate topic and therefore a must-read.”Axel Honneth, Department of Philosophy, Columbia University “In one of the most lucid and insightful treatments of the subject of autonomy in the recent literature, Roessler takes profoundly seriously the contingencies and ambivalences inherent in everyday life, even in well-lived lives. The view of autonomy that emerges is thereby more nuanced, appropriately complex, and true to life than most on offer. The masterful use of literary examples, echoed in her own elegant writing, makes Roessler’s treatment of the topic a joy to read. Moreover, the account she offers, both of autonomy and its connection to a life well lived, is powerful and compelling.”John Christman, Professor of Philosophy, Political Science and Women's Studies, Pennsylvania State University “Engagingly written, and enriched with a series of well-chosen literary examples, Autonomy masterfully articulates the tensions between two conflicting but deeply entrenched conceptions of ourselves – as self-determined agents, and as beings who are subject to situations and circumstances that we do not choose. In explaining how these tensions can be reconciled, Beate Roessler presents a compelling argument for the view that autonomy is a necessary condition for a well-lived life. A lucid exploration of the interconnections between autonomy, self-knowledge, privacy, and social relationships, Autonomy makes an important contribution to the contemporary literature on autonomy.”Catriona Mackenzie, Professor of Philosophy, Macquarie University