Kant – 2

Now what is the opposite of autonomy for Kant? He invested a special term to describe the opposite of autonomy.

Heteronomy is the opposite of autonomy. When I act heteronomously, I am acting according to an inclination or a desire that I haven’s chosen for myself. So freedom is autonomy, is this especially stringent idea that Kant insist on. Now why is autonomy, to opposite of acting heteronomously, according to the dictates of nature? Kant’s point is that nature is governed by laws, laws of cause and effect for example. Suppose you drop a billiard ball and it falls to the ground. We wouldn’t say the billiard ball is acting freely. Why not? It’s acting according to the law of cause and effect, the law of gravity. And just as he has a demanding conception of morality. To act freely is not to choose the best means to a given end, it’s to choose the end itself for its own sake. And that’s something that human beings can do and that billiard ball can’t. Insofar we act on inclination or pursue pleasure. We act as means to the realization of ends given outside us. We are instruments rather than authors of the purposes we pursue. That’s the heteronomous determination of the will.