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Running Head: SOCIETY AND AUTONOMY 1

Society and Autonomy

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SOCIETY AND AUTONOMY 2

Are We Autonomous, Free Agents Or Are We Conditioned And Constrained By Society?

People aspire to have a sense of freedom or what can simply be thought as having

personal autonomy. But the divisions of the society constructed as part of social order restraints

humans from absolute independence. Individuals’ actions are predetermined by the social

constructions of the society. The cultures define the norms and the expected social behavior,

thus, predetermining what is to be done and the perspective of how it is to be done. The social

constraints hinder people from achieving full autonomy or becoming free agents; thus, people are

conditioned and constrained by the society.

Debord, Debord, & Knabb, (2014), argues that the relationship between people and

society has been described in different ways depending on either the perspective of the society of

individuals. The level of “free will” has limitations because people are victims of the social

conditions that they find themselves into. The challenge of achieving autonomy is based on this

aspect of social constraints. It is not possible to have autonomy if there are social constraints.

From the definition of identity, “personal identity” is viewed as a sociological concept

that refers to how a person develops a story about him or her with regard to social and cultural

factors (Cote, & Levine, 2014). This is to stress that the psychological concept of “self” builds

upon the context of society. The inner experiences and the outer experiences reflect different the

difference between the free will of a person and the social constraints. For example, the “social

norms” determine the some of the dressing code that people are expected to dress in certain

places. In certain cultures, women are not allowed to wear short dresses. These inhibitions show

that people are not autonomous or free agents rather conditioned and constrained by the society.

The conditioning of the societies determines partly what people are expected to do or conduct

themselves.

SOCIETY AND AUTONOMY 3

Van den Bos, (2009) believes that the concept of “free will” is an illusion that people live

with and tries to live and manage part of the behaviors. As much as people aspire to become

“free” or behave freely, human behavior must be constrained. Societies have arranged

themselves in such a way that they determine the way people think, behave or even act. From

childhood, a person is preconditioned to behave or think in a certain way. For example, how

people talk is because they have been preconditioned that way. Ideally, if you took an American

child before he or she has learned how to speak to China, the child will be conditioned to speak

and behave like Chinese. Thus, people are just conditioned and constrained by the society to

behave as the society expects.

One of the assumptions about humans is that they have “free will” and not all behaviors

are determined. Personal agency is the exact term used to describe this concept of free will.

However, even the extent of free will is determined by the society. For example, even it is

allowed to rest on public seats a person cannot just go and sleep there for a year. This person will

be seen as causing public disturbance despite the person having a free will to do whatever

pleased. The implication is that the limitation of free will makes people conditioned and

constrained by the society through its social norms.

Also, Christman (2004), states that an autonomous individual is one who has free will to

choose the kind of social relations to engage and the person has a substantive power and

authority to control such engagement. However, it is not possible to have that ultimate control of

free will because of the interactions with other people. The unwritten rules of engagement with

other people which in most cases are determined by the society are the reason why people are not

autonomous or free agents but conditioned by the society.

SOCIETY AND AUTONOMY 4

Fiske, & Taylor (2013), believes that social conditions and behaviors of individuals are linked.

The question of directly transferring norms from the society to people may not be the concern

mainly because it through social experiences that people have becomes embodied to customs.

People respond to situations based on the past experience which means the prior preconditioning

are the determining factors (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014). Although some instances of social

unconformity have been experienced, the overwhelming majority play by the rules. For example,

some childhood experiences become the determinant behaviors of a person when the person

grows old. Thus, it is clear that despite the determination of becoming autonomous, the

preconditions experienced in the previous encounters become the driving force.

Furthermore, as identified in philosophy autonomy is the idea of the capacity of one to be

one’s own person and live according to what the person believes is being good depending on

personal aspiration and motives based on one’s own and not coerced or manipulated by any

external forces (Christman, 2008). In other words, the person controls his or her actions, choices,

thoughts, and will. This is practically unviable because people do not live in a vacuum. There is

the interaction between people that create influence on one's thoughts. Peer pressure exists

because of the interactions between people which show that it is not possible to have autonomy

among people. Besides, one must do things according to the society’s norms which depict that

one’s thoughts must conform to the social demands of the society (Kendall, 2015).

In addition, the question of being autonomous, free agents or conditioned and constrained

by society can be fully answered depending on the context of the cause and action of people. A

person can be autonomous but still be limited by the conditions of the society. Furthermore,

influence from other people including family and friends constitute part of general society’s

influence on a person. Therefore, as much as people think they are their own person, they still

SOCIETY AND AUTONOMY 5

have other limitations that can be directly or indirectly attributed to the society. In this light,

people are conditioned and constrained by society.

In conclusion, people are as free as they think but still limited to the society demands.

The society constitutes the social the way of living defining some of the dos and don’ts. The

people are forced to live within these conditions and constraints despite how unpleasant they

might be to a person. Conformity to these rules is not based personal opinion but the conditions

and the ways of the society of ensuring that people conform to its demands. Through exploring

some of the issues that limit the person’s autonomy and liberty to do as the person wishes, the

essay has shown that people are conditioned and constrained by society. People aspire to be free

and autonomous but to maintain social order, and the society has unwritten rules that govern how

people interact.

SOCIETY AND AUTONOMY 6

References

Christman, J. (2004). Relational autonomy, liberal individualism, and the social constitution of

selves. Philosophical Studies, 117(1), 143-164.

Christman, J. (2008). Autonomy in moral and political philosophy. Stanford encyclopedia of

philosophy.

Cote, J. E., & Levine, C. G. (2014). Identity, formation, agency, and culture: A social

psychological synthesis. Psychology Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Toward a psychology of optimal experience (pp. 209-226).

Springer Netherlands.

Debord, G., Debord, G., & Knabb, K. (2014). The society of the spectacle.

Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (2013). Social cognition: From brains to culture. Sage.

Kendall, D. E. (2015). Sociology in our times. Australia: Wadsworth.

Van den Bos, K. (2009). Making sense of life: The existential self-trying to deal with personal

uncertainty. Psychological Inquiry, 20(4), 197-217.

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