[Revised entry by Natalie Stoljar on May 20, 2024.
Changes to: Main text, Bibliography]
Autonomy is usually understood by feminist writers in the same way that it is understood within moral psychology generally, namely, as self-government or self-direction: being autonomous is acting on motives, reasons, or values that are one’s own. Early feminist literature regarded the notion of autonomy with suspicion because it was thought to promote unattractive “masculinist” ideals of personhood; that is, it was thought to presuppose a conception of the person as…

Originally appeared on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Read More