Autonomous means ‘who has autonomy’. Also, applied to the world of work, it means that you work on your own. For example: ‘They kicked me out of work and I became autonomous.’ This word comes from the Greek αὐτόνομος. Formed by ‘same’ and ‘law’, ‘norm’. Some synonyms can be: independent, free, emancipated and sovereign.
This adjective applies, for example, to municipalities, regions or organizations that have the power to establish their own regulations and governing bodies. For example, one usually speaks of ‘autonomous government’ and ‘autonomous communities’. It is also used applied to people, indicating that a person is able to perform tasks independently. For example: ‘Juan is already quite autonomous’.
Personal autonomy
The personal autonomy is a concept of disciplines such as philosophy, pedagogy and psychology. It can be defined in a generic way as the ability to make decisions and act on self-related issues. Personal autonomy works in different fields such as in Early Childhood Education and disability.
Moral autonomy
Moral autonomy is the ability of the human being to assess aspects of moral character on its own, for example, what is right or wrong or what is fair or unfair. It is considered that people are able to judge a mode of action or a reality without taking into account external factors that may influence that assessment. However, on a real level the moral autonomy of people is strongly influenced by the social environment. Moral autonomy is considered to be the product of human and personal development and allows people a capacity for decision in consequence of their moral values and critical perception of the world.
Autonomy and heteronomy
The heteronomía is a philosophical concept that defines the condition of the will which is governed by imperatives that are not themselves but external agents. No outside of herself. It is important not to confuse this concept with heteronymy, which is a linguistic term that identifies a word formation process in which they come from two different roots, for example,
University Autonomy
The university autonomy is one of the principles that many universities are governed. It expresses that organizational and management aspects are carried out independently of other organizations and entities, for example, political power.
