Autonomy, Moral Tragedy, and Ethical Coherence in Complex Societies

Autonomy, Moral Tragedy, and Ethical Coherence in Complex Societies

Author: William McCain Affiliation: Independent Researcher

Abstract

Contemporary moral philosophy remains divided among deontological, consequentialist, virtue-based, and anti-theoretical approaches. While each framework captures important moral intuitions, none adequately accounts for systemic harm, biological constraint, and technological scale without either collapsing into moral absolutism or retreating into relativism. This paper proposes an autonomy-centered ethical framework grounded in empirical reality rather than moral purity. Good is defined as the sustainable increase of autonomy across time and persons, while evil is understood as the reduction, counterfeit, or monopolization of autonomy. Unlike rule-based or outcome-maximizing systems, autonomy ethics accepts moral tragedy and mixed outcomes as intrinsic features of ethical life. Through conceptual clarification, comparison with Kantian deontology, and applied analysis, this paper argues that ethical coherence rather than moral innocence is the necessary foundation for a survivable human morality.

1. Introduction

Moral philosophy has traditionally sought universal principles capable of guiding human conduct. Yet historical evidence suggests that large-scale harm is rarely committed in the absence of moral reasoning. Atrocities are more often justified through moral systems than caused by their absence. This raises a critical question: whether prevailing ethical frameworks meaningfully constrain power under conditions of scale, abstraction, and non-ideal human behavior.

Modern moral debates frequently center on disputes between moral realism and anti-realism, or between rule-based and outcome-based systems. These debates often fail to address the more practical issue of whether a moral framework can remain coherent when applied to biological constraint, technological mediation, and systemic asymmetry. A viable moral theory must operate within these realities rather than treating them as deviations from an ideal moral world.

This paper proposes an autonomy-centered ethical framework designed to meet this requirement.

2. Moral Reality and Biological Constraint

Human moral behavior is inseparable from biological and evolutionary pressures. Self-interest, fear responses, kin preference, and dominance behaviors are not moral anomalies but structural features of human psychology (Trivers 1971; Haidt 2012). Ethical systems that deny these forces tend toward idealism or authoritarian enforcement, while systems that accept them without constraint tend toward domination.

Morality must therefore be understood as an emergent system operating within material constraints. Ethical frameworks that presuppose perfectly rational agents or unlimited moral motivation fail when confronted with scarcity, uncertainty, and unequal power. A functional morality must accommodate these conditions while still constraining harm.

3. Defining Autonomy

Autonomy is often invoked in ethical discourse but rarely defined with sufficient rigor. In this framework, autonomy is defined as the capacity of an individual or group to act meaningfully in the world over time. This capacity depends on multiple interrelated dimensions:

1. Epistemic autonomy, defined as access to truthful and sufficient knowledge.

2. Bodily autonomy, defined as control over one’s physical existence.

3. Agency autonomy, defined as the ability to choose and execute actions.

4. Temporal autonomy, defined as the ability to revise one’s life trajectory.

5. Relational autonomy, defined as freedom from domination by others.

Autonomy exists in degrees and can be expanded, constrained, destroyed, or counterfeited. Moral relevance arises wherever autonomy can be meaningfully affected.

4. The Core Ethical Principle

The central claim of autonomy ethics is as follows:

Good consists in the sustainable increase of multi-layer autonomy across time and persons.

Evil consists in the systematic reduction, counterfeit, or monopolization of autonomy.

The requirement of sustainability excludes systems that increase autonomy temporarily while creating long-term dependency, fragility, or coercive control. Moral evaluation under this framework is scalar rather than binary and requires accounting for both gains and losses of autonomy.

5. Comparison with Kantian Deontology

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