If we want to be autonomous, what do we want? The author shows that contemporary value-neutral and metaphysically economical conceptions of autonomy, such as that of Harry Frankfurt, face a serious problem. Drawing on Plato, Augustine, and Kant, this book provides a sketch of how 'ancient' and 'modern' can be reconciled to solve it. But at what expense? It turns out that the dominant modern ideal of autonomy cannot do without a costly metaphysics if it is to be coherent.

'The author has a mastery of the literature on moral and political autonomy... [he has] made an interesting and original contribution to what is a vital contemporary debate.' - Professor Timothy O'Hagan, University of East Anglia

Preface
PART I
The Modern Ideal of Autonomy
Ancient Ideals of the Person: Plato and Augustine
Problems with the Modern Ideal: The Need for Extension
Using Plato and Augustine to Fill the Gap
PART II
Sartrean Existentialism: Extreme Freedom and Groundless Choice
Frankfurt
Hill's Idea of Autonomy
The Ideal of the Person in Kant's Groundwork
Bibliography
Notes

MARK COECKELBERGH received a PhD from the University of Birmingham. Presently he is a lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Maastricht. His main research interest is ethics. His publications include Liberation and Passion (2002).