Editing Autonomy (section)

{{Short description|Capacity for control, discretion or political self-governance}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Autonomous|the novel|Autonomous (novel){{!}}''Autonomous'' (novel)}}
{{Distinguish|Autotomy}}

In [[developmental psychology]] and [[morality|moral]], [[political]], and [[bioethics|bioethical]] [[philosophy]], '''autonomy'''{{NoteTag|{{langx|grc|αὐτονομία|autonomia}}, from {{lang|grc|αὐτόνομος}}, ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's own [[law]]"}} is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous [[organization]]s or [[institution]]s are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be defined from a [[human resources]] perspective, where it denotes a (relatively high) level of discretion granted to an employee in his or her work.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dewey|first=C.R.|title=Autonomy without a self }}</ref> In such cases, autonomy is known to generally increase [[job satisfaction]]. [[Self-actualization|Self-actualized]] individuals are thought to operate autonomously of external expectations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bordages|first=John Walter|date=1989-06-01|title=Self-Actualization and Personal Autonomy|journal=Psychological Reports|language=en|volume=64|issue=3_suppl|pages=1263–1266|doi=10.2466/pr0.1989.64.3c.1263|s2cid=146406002|issn=0033-2941}}</ref> In a [[Medicine|medical]] context, respect for a patient's personal autonomy is considered one of many fundamental [[Medical ethics|ethical principles in medicine]].