Authority and Independence

Authority is often justified instrumentally, as a means for conforming to reason. The importance of deciding for ourselves is just as frequently explained by the importance of making our own lives or living life by our own lights. To reconcile these ideas, instrumental accounts of authority posit two assumptions. The idea of making our own lives is understood in terms of authorship,enacted in long-term life-shaping decisions, and the value of deciding for ourselves is grounded in adherence to reasons. The paper argues that these assumptions entail objectionable paternalism and that they are incompatible with the underlying rationale of making our own lives, properly understood. Replacing the notion of authorship with that of ownership, it rejects a principled distinction between domains and types of choices, leading to a more expansive view of independence and endowing it with distinct value.