What does it mean to govern oneself—and when may another person, institution or state legitimately interfere?

Lindley frames the autonomy problem as one that stitches together rationality, desire, self-authorship and being able to maintain the ability to examine oneself. Moving through Kant, Mill and debates about liberal neutrality, he uses various implications and conceptual explorations to see if autonomy requires perfect rationality, or whether irrational desires can still be one’s own, and how far a liberal society should promote autonomy rather than merely protect choice. 

The book is quite unique in the way as it actually tests the abstraction against the difficult cases of children, mental illness, compulsory treatment, false consciousness and political emancipation. First published in 1986 as part of Macmillan’s Issues in Political Theory series, it was written as an accessible but serious introduction to a field then becoming increasingly specialised. It remains useful for readers interested in liberalism, paternalism, education, psychiatry and the uneasy fact that “respecting choice” is not always politically or morally simple. 

First edition. Macmillan Education, 1986 paperback. Very good condition with light rubbing and minor edge wear to the covers.