A&E/Autonomy

In Robert McClintock's work, autonomy is a central, defining characteristic of human life and the fundamental premise of authentic education. He treats autonomy not merely as a political right or a goal to be achieved at graduation, but as an inherent, biological and existential capacity of the living person to direct their own formation.

Here is a breakdown of how McClintock defines and uses the concept of autonomy across his corpus:

1. Definition: The Self-Norming Agent

McClintock defines the autonomous self by returning to the etymological roots of the word: auto (self) plus nomos (norm or law).

• Self-Norming: To be autonomous is to be a "self-norming agent." It means the person possesses the capacity to set their own standards and direct their own actions.
• Inherent in Life: He argues that autonomy is not a high-level abstraction but a biological reality. All life has an autonomous will in the sense that living organisms act to maintain themselves. Even an infant is an autonomous agent, struggling to organize its perceptions and control its movements (like learning to walk or talk) through its own efforts.
• Distinction from "Free Will": McClintock distinguishes autonomy from the metaphysical concept of "free will" or being unconstrained. He acknowledges that people are constrained by circumstances, genetics, and society ("I am I and my circumstance," quoting Ortega y Gasset). However, the person acts autonomously within those constraints by making choices and regulating their own conduct.

2. The Axiom of Liberal Education

A radical aspect of McClintock's thought is his reversal of the traditional view that education makes people free. He argues instead that autonomy is the condition, not the result, of liberal education.

• The Liberal Premise: He asserts that "liberal education" (education worthy of a free person) makes sense only if we assume the student is already free and autonomous. The education does not confer freedom; the student’s existing freedom is what makes the education necessary and possible.
• Student Responsibility: Because the student is autonomous, the ultimate responsibility for education lies with the student, not the teacher or the institution. As he often quotes from Plato's Republic: "The blame is his who chooses".
• The Teacher's Role: In this view, the teacher’s goal is self-abnegation—to make themselves unnecessary by helping the student refine their own powers of judgment and self-direction.

3. Study vs. Instruction

McClintock uses the concept of autonomy to distinguish between study and instruction.

• Instruction: This is a system that treats the student as a "passive learner" or "plastic" material to be molded by external forces. It relies on the assumption that the teacher causes learning, which McClintock argues is a fallacy that ignores the student's inner life and will.
• Study: This is the autonomous activity of the student. Study occurs when an inquirer pursues intentions (often beyond the teacher's objectives). It is the act of a person taking possession of culture and knowledge for their own purposes.
• Alienation: He warns that when educational systems ignore student autonomy—trying to compel learning through testing and rigid curricula—they produce alienation. The student outwardly conforms (behavior) but inwardly disengages (action).

4. Technology as a Tool for Autonomy

McClintock views digital technology as a historical force that can restore autonomy to the center of education.

• Breaking the Bottle-neck: In the print-based era, students were dependent on teachers and textbooks for access to knowledge (a state of "tutelage"). Digital networks provide random access to the whole culture, allowing students to follow their own inquiries without waiting for a teacher's permission or pacing.
• Locus of Control: He argues that educational design should place the student at the "locus of control." Digital tools (search engines, simulations, databases) empower students to act as researchers and creators, exercising their judgment rather than just receiving information.

5. Person vs. Individual

In his later work, McClintock makes a sharp distinction between the "person" and the "individual" to clarify autonomy.

• The Individual: An abstract statistical entity (like a cohort or a demographic profile) used by bureaucracies and social scientists. The "individual" has no autonomy; it is just a collection of predictive variables.
• The Person: The living, historical agent who acts, suffers, enjoys, and chooses. Only the person is autonomous.

6. Formative Justice

Finally, autonomy is the engine of formative justice. Because humans are autonomous, they face the inevitable problem of having more possibilities than they can realize. They must choose what to become.

• Self-Formation: Formative justice is the principle by which autonomous persons regulate their own development, allocating their finite energy and attention to shape themselves into who they "can and should become".
• Judgment: The exercise of autonomy requires judgment. The core of education is forming the student's power of judgment so they can navigate their autonomy wisely.

In summary, for McClintock, autonomy is the vital capability of the student to steer their own life. Education fails when it tries to override this autonomy with instruction, and succeeds when it provides the resources (cultural and technological) for the autonomous person to form themselves.