Are Autonomy and Authority Necessarily Incompatible? PDF

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Essay - Are Autonomy and Authority Necessarily Incompatible?...

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Are Autonomy and Authority Necessarily Incompatible? In this essay I will firstly begin by exploring some of the definitions of autonomy and authority, then I will move onto explaining why I believe autonomy and authority can be compatible. I will argue that in order to create a civilised society which doesn’t descend into anarchy and chaos there needs to be a balance between autonomy and authority and the two can in fact work together at the same time in order to create a coherent and organised society. I will also explain why I think not accepting authority can in fact make us less autonomous and that by sacrificing a small amount of autonomy we can experience the most freedom. According to Wolff (1970) authority is “the right to command, and correlatively the right to be obeyed.” Authority is not threat, coercion, force or persuasion. As suggested by Weber (1922) people recognise authority due to three reasons. The first being tradition; for example, royalty, they obey because this is the way things have always been. Charisma; certain people have authority over others due their personality and leadership skills and finally, legality; people obey because they see the laws in place as legitimate, for example in a democracy. Friedman (1990) argues that “acceptance of the thing one is being asked to do is a necessary condition of doing it.” This is not quite the same as blind obedience but is in opposition to Wolff who suggests we should not simply accept authority. Wolff (1970) also argues that primarily, over anything else a man needs to be autonomous, it is the most important thing as a human, he explains autonomy as “the refusal to be ruled.” Wolff suggests perhaps people shouldn’t accept the states authority as when states claim authority it takes away from out autonomy. The only way a state can be autonomous is if the people are the state. If we agree to Wolff’s definitions and arguments of authority and autonomy then it seems that they are incompatible, however whilst Wolff’s work is certainly very interesting and useful, I disagree. I believe in order for society to work we must sacrifice a small amount of our autonomy and allow for there to be authority above us, as if we do not do this we may actually end up with less autonomy. In opposition to writers such as Wolff, I believe that if we choose not to accept any kind of authority then instead of this meaning we regain our autonomy I think we surrender it. By rejecting authority, the state will be filled with people working only for themselves without considering the best outcome for the society as whole. This will mean society descends into anarchy, I do agree with Wolff when he says that the only political system compatible with autonomy is anarchy. However, this is where I feel Wolff contradicts himself, as Frankfurt (1973) argues there are various contradictions in Wolff’s work, if society is anarchical then I believe we are sacrificing our autonomy and freedom as we can longer live knowing that there are deterrents for committing crimes, or that people will be punished if they choose to harm others. Furthermore, if there was no longer a government ruling over our society, it’s unlikely many people would continue to pay their taxes, no one particularly wants to do so in the first place, but the majority of people do because they feel that the state has authority over them for the three reasons Wolff suggests. If there are no taxes being paid, then the services we have available collapse, I believe this impacts on our autonomy as we are no longer able to access free education and healthcare, as well as the many other services. I think education makes us more autonomous as we are more able to understand the outcomes and consequences our choices have.

Wolff (1970) argues that the idea of having legitimate political authority is contradictory, here I disagree with him again, I believe that if a government is democratically elected this gives it genuine authority that should be obeyed. Of course, there is exceptions, if a government is democratically elected but then evolves into something which is not democratic then it loses it’s legitimacy and right to have authority over anyone. Some people would argue that even a democratic election doesn’t give a government legitimate authority because not every citizen will have chosen this and be happy with the outcome. However, I would argue that in order to create a society where citizens can be awarded the most amount of freedom and autonomy possible, we must accept democracy as authority. In my opinion there is not any other political system whereby we would be able to have more autonomy and freedom. By disobeying a democratic government, even if you feel they are restricting your autonomy is almost to reject democracy itself, and therefore the idea that it is best that we sacrifice a small amount of out autonomy in order to create a civilised society and to have the most amount of autonomy whilst still living in an ordered way. To conclude, whilst it may be true that in order to have full and complete autonomy we cannot accept any form of authority, as Wolff argues, but I do not believe that this makes authority and autonomy completely incompatible. I think that whilst accepting authority means we do sacrifice a small amount of out autonomy, not accepting any kind of authority would mean more of our autonomy would be eroded as we would not be able to enjoy the benefits of living in a civilised and organised society, instead society would descend into anarchy and chaos. Therefore, I believe authority and autonomy can be compatible.

Word Count: 955 Bibliography Wolff, Robert, P. ‘In Defence of Anarchism’. 1970, Chapter 1, The Conflict Between Authority and Autonomy, p 23-26. Weber, Max. ‘Economy and society.’ 1922, p265-272. Frankfurt, Harry G. ‘The anarchism of Paul Robert Wolff.’ 1973, 405-4014. Friedman, R, B. ‘On the concept of authority in political philosophy’. 1990, p60-65. Wolff, Robert, P. ‘In Defence of Anarchism’. 1970, Chapter 1, The Conflict Between Authority and Autonomy, p 31-32....