From unimpeachable autonomy to self-imposed heteronomy: a liberal and Foucauldian perspective on advance euthanasia directives
Abstract
Based on a controversial case of assisted suicide offered to and eventually enforced on ademented woman vainly resisting the procedure, this article discusses the problems thatarise when the human entity is conceptualized as an individual primarily defined by his abilityfor rational self-expression and autonomous self-rule. To highlight these difficulties, a liberalview on'autonomy'-a term which serves as anidealbut is yet subject toconditions-isscrutinized.
Given that liberal political theory alone is insufficient to fully reflect the changesof personality by which an individual'sfight for autonomy bears the potential to turn intounalterable heteronomy, it is complemented by the thought of Michel Foucault. With hisattention to societal mechanisms which bring individuals about-a process termed'indivi-duation'in the following-cases like the aforementioned scenario wherein individuals areforced to divide themselves from themselves can be critically analyzed.
Such an approachillustrates that the established notion of the'individual'can be led ad absurdum, and itsvalidity as both an analytical idea and a normative vision should be challenged.