The bounds of autonomy

What does autonomy mean? If I lie in bed until late in the morning, is that autonomy? Or, does autonomy require me to exert self-control and wake up at a time I set? At a basic level autonomy requires that no one else is setting my schedule for me.

Anyone who has had complete freedom probably knows how easily that freedom can lead to a kind of passive autonomy where no one else is in control, but it’s hard to say that you are the one in control. On the other hand, active autonomy might be self-imposed in the moment, but it often arises from training imposed by a situation or authority figure. So is that really self-control, or the residue of authority?

It often feels like I’m being squeezed by top-down forces on one end and bottom-up forces on the other.

Either way, autonomy is a basic human need. If we don’t have it in our lives, we find ways to feel like we have control with escapism, malicious compliance, or by convincing ourselves we chose an action that was imposed.