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The ideal of autonomy from the viewpoint of functional differentiation/integration of society
Author(s) -
Tsivacou Ioanna
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
systems research and behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 1092-7026
DOI - 10.1002/sres.669
Subject(s) - autonomy , epistemology , sociology , politics , ideal (ethics) , social system , context (archaeology) , social science , political science , law , philosophy , paleontology , biology
This article is an attempt to explain the reasons why autonomy has acquired today such a remarkable position in philosophic and political discourse as well as in political and social practice. As a proponent of the system paradigm, I am far away from an idealistic humanism, which would attribute the range of a social ideal such as autonomy to the human, independent spirit. On the contrary, regarding autonomy as an evaluative criterion for the decisions of many social systems (for example, of politics and economy, but also of education and health), I would argue that it should be examined in the context of the operations of these systems, in case the causes of its power should be clarified. For that reason, I use the analytical tool of functional differentiation/integration of society based mainly on Luhmann's theory about social systems, yet without adopting the Luhmannian model regarding the binary codes of system self‐reference. By replacing the mechanism of binary coding of Luhmann with a group of values spread in the social functional systems by the ‘orders of discourse’ (as Foucault understands them), I would suggest reconsidering the Luhmannian theory of functional differentiation if we want to approach effectively the social phenomena of our era. The view of this paper for autonomy as an intersystem evaluative criterion for the system's choices could be corroborated by applying the revised model. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.