Rousseau’s Autonomy and the Ir

Autonomy is literally self-rule or self-government. Autonomy has often been thought to bear a particularly close relation to democracy. Only in a democracy, it is sometimes said, can an individual or a people be truly autonomous. Spelling out why this should be so, however, takes some care. In its ancient meaning, autonomy was taken to be a property of states, rather than of individuals. An autonomous people was one that was self-sufficient and self-governing, rather …

…equality. First of all, women are given full rights under the constitution of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Specifically women have gained the right to vote, own property, work in a previously male work setting and be educated in whatever fashion they so choose including equal education with men. These changes were sparked by philosophers such as Mary Wollstonecraft and have made out society more effective by increasing the number of rational thinkers.