Autonomy and the Self

Michael Kühler is private lecturer (“Privatdozent”) and Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Study in Bioethics at the University of Münster, Germany. His areas of specialization include ethics, metaethics, political philosophy and the philosophy of love. He has written a book on moral justification and motivation (Moral und Ethik – Rechtfertigung und Motivation. Ein zweifaches Verständnis von Moralbegründung, Mentis, 2006) and has just finished a second book project on the relation between “ought” and “can” (Sollen ohne Können? Über Sinn und Geltung nicht erfüllbarer Sollensansprüche, Mentis, forthcoming). Currently, he is working on, among other things, the relation between personal autonomy and love.Nadja Jelinek was Research Fellow at the University of Konstanz, Germany, from 2005-2009. Currently she is about to finish her doctoral thesis, dedicated to a close examination of the relation between normativity and freedom/autonomy in the works of Harry Frankfurt, Charles Taylor and authors following the theory of George Herbert Mead. Her main research interests are, apart from theories of freedom and autonomy, theories of personhood and moral philosophy, especially applied ethics.

• Foreword.- Introduction; Michael Kühler, Nadja Jelinek.- Section I: Autonomy and Free Will.- 1. Freedom Without Choice?; Gottfried Seebaß.- 2. Freedom and Normativity – Varieties of Free Will; Barbara Merker.- Section II: Autonomy, the Self, and the Role of Personal Traits.- 3. Norm-Guided Formation of Cares without Volitional Necessity – A Response to Frankfurt; John Davenport.- 4. Dynamics in Autonomy; Nadja Jelinek.- 5. The Normative Significance of Personal Projects; Monika Betzler.- 6. Normative Self-Constitution and Individual Autonomy; John Christman.- 7. Psychocorporeal Selfhood, Practical Intelligence, and Adaptive Autonomy; Diana Tietjens Meyers.- 8. Emotion, Autonomy, and Weakness of Will; Sabine Döring.- 9. Who Am I to Uphold Unrealizable Normative Claims?; Michael Kühler.- Section III: Autonomy and the Self Within Society's Grip.- 10. Paternalistic Love and Reasons for Caring; Bennett W. Helm.- 11. Self-Identity and Moral Agency; Marina Oshana.- 12. Being Identical by Being (Treated as) Responsible; Michael Quante.- 13. Integrity Endangered by Hypocrisy; Nora Hangel.- 14. Who Can I Blame?; Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen.- About the Authors.- Index.