Autonomy in Ethics for the Professions | HaP — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hi. So in this video I want to talk
2. 0:01about the concept of autonomy and how it
3. 0:04relates to ethics for the professions.
4. 0:06Um so autonomy in my opinion is one of
5. 0:08the most significant concepts for ethics
6. 0:11for the professions. Uh and it's
7. 0:12directly related to many other concepts
8. 0:14such as the professional client
9. 0:16relationship uh employee rights,
10. 0:19privacy, deception and so on. Um and we
11. 0:23all have heard that term autonomy
12. 0:25before. We all, you know, have a general
13. 0:26idea of what it means. Uh and we all
14. 0:29probably uh value our own autonomy. But
15. 0:32what exactly is autonomy and how does it
16. 0:35relate to ethics for the professions? So
17. 0:38uh in this book, which I'll link down
18. 0:39below uh one of his chapters, the author
19. 0:43defines autonomy as essentially uh the
20. 0:46ability to do three things. First, um
21. 0:49the ability to assess the situation. Um
22. 0:52second the ability to decide uh what is
23. 0:55the best course of action and then third
24. 0:58the ability to carry out that course of
25. 1:01action. Um so just think about for
26. 1:03yourself right if you're trying to
27. 1:04decide something um uh you need to be
28. 1:07able to assess the situation you need to
29. 1:10be able to decide what the best thing to
30. 1:12do is uh and you need the ability to
31. 1:14actually carry out what you have
32. 1:16decided. uh when you have uh have the
33. 1:19ability you have the autonomy uh to make
34. 1:22a decision. Uh think about when you were
35. 1:25helpless uh according to this definition
36. 1:28the idea is that in this helplessness uh
37. 1:31you may uh were not able to decide what
38. 1:35to do or you uh maybe were not able to
39. 1:38assess theu situation or were not able
40. 1:41to actually carry out the decision. your
41. 1:44inability to complete one or two of
42. 1:46those tasks or maybe all three of those
43. 1:48tasks uh compromises your autonomy. So
44. 1:51again this idea of autonomy is your
45. 1:53ability to assess to decide and to act.
46. 1:57The opposite of autonomy is dependency
47. 2:00and again in the book dependency is
48. 2:03defined in two ways. First, this idea of
49. 2:07impulsiveness, right? The inability to
50. 2:10control yourself, the um the necessity
51. 2:13just to do this or that or whatever,
52. 2:15right? Uh when we lack that ability of
53. 2:18control and when we are impulsive, that
54. 2:21again compromises our autonomy. It makes
55. 2:24us dependent upon something else. The
56. 2:27second form of dependency is
57. 2:29indecisiveness. Right? The inability to
58. 2:31make a decision, right? uh where you're
59. 2:33just constantly thinking things over,
60. 2:36you're constantly trying to figure out
61. 2:37what's going on and that lack of ability
62. 2:40to decide uh really hampers your
63. 2:42autonomy and uh makes you dependent
64. 2:46again on upon other things. Uh both of
65. 2:49those two concepts, the idea of
66. 2:52impulsiveness and the idea of being
67. 2:54indecisive uh is a form of dependency
68. 2:58and again compromises our autonomy. So
69. 3:02what does this have to do with ethics
70. 3:03for the professions given what Bale says
71. 3:05about uh the significance of a
72. 3:07professional and the idea that often a
73. 3:10professional has a monopoly on the labor
74. 3:12or has a power uh iniquity with the
75. 3:15client. Um the idea is that the
76. 3:18professional is morally obligated to
77. 3:21uphold the client's autonomy um as long
78. 3:25as it benefits the client. Right? So the
79. 3:28effective professional is able to
80. 3:30fulfill uh the professional tasks and
81. 3:32professional uh you know duties uh but
82. 3:35yet at the same time meet the moral duty
83. 3:38of upholding client autonomy to the
84. 3:40benefit of the client and this relates
85. 3:44directly to the idea of client desire.
86. 3:47Um one way to think about it is that the
87. 3:50idea that when we work out of our desire
88. 3:53we are autonomous right I want this and
89. 3:55I go get that. Uh but what Emanuel K
90. 3:58teaches us is that counterintuitively
91. 4:00when we operate out of desire uh we
92. 4:02actually are not operating out of
93. 4:04autonomy. Um so say we go and get ice
94. 4:09cream, right? Uh and you uh go and you
95. 4:12pick whatever flavor of ice cream you
96. 4:15want and you pick chocolate ice cream,
97. 4:17right? That decision is that an
98. 4:19autonomous decision? Uh for Kant uh he
99. 4:22will say not necessarily. If your uh
100. 4:25decision for chocolate ice cream is
101. 4:26based on a desire, well, here's the
102. 4:28thing. Uh much of our desires are
103. 4:31contingent upon other factors. Maybe you
104. 4:33pick chocolate because that's the flavor
105. 4:36uh your family, you know, chose to eat
106. 4:39when you're a child and you're reliving
107. 4:41your childhood. Uh maybe you pick
108. 4:43chocolate because uh your family always
109. 4:45chose vanilla and uh out of a reaction,
110. 4:48you wanted to do something different, so
111. 4:50you chose chocolate. Either way, um when
112. 4:53we're choosing something out of desire,
113. 4:55uh that desire is contingent upon our
114. 4:57upbringing, upon society, etc., etc.,
115. 5:01which takes us away from our autonomy.
116. 5:04Another way to think about it is the
117. 5:05example I often give uh with my
118. 5:07children. Uh many years ago, they're
119. 5:09invited to their first birthday party.
120. 5:11Uh it was Anna's birthday, so I took
121. 5:14them down to Target and I said, "Oh, you
122. 5:16could, you know, you could get anything
123. 5:18you want for Anna." Uh they immediately
124. 5:21ran to the Lego aisle. Uh I knew that
125. 5:23their family just had a newborn. So I
126. 5:25was thinking in my head, well maybe
127. 5:27Legos aren't the best idea. So I told
128. 5:30them or started talking to them like,
129. 5:31"Oh, I don't know if Anna likes Legos.
130. 5:34Uh why don't we try something else?" So
131. 5:36they run over to the uh Nerf aisle. Um I
132. 5:40don't know if their family wants Nerf
133. 5:41guns in their house, you know, etc.,
134. 5:43etc. So um I'm like, "Oh, well maybe
135. 5:46they might not like she might not like
136. 5:48that either." Uh eventually I sort of
137. 5:50guide them towards uh the next aisle uh
138. 5:53which I saw this gigantic like walking
139. 5:57horse. I I don't know the name of it. I
140. 5:58don't recall. Uh but I sort of nudged
141. 6:00them in that direction, right? Uh it was
142. 6:02a nice big gift. Everybody likes to
143. 6:04receive a big gift. It was within the uh
144. 6:07price range I was thinking of. Um so
145. 6:09eventually they chose that gift. Uh did
146. 6:13they really choose that gift out of
147. 6:14their autonomy? Well, uh, for them they
148. 6:17they felt like they were choosing this
149. 6:19gift all by themselves. Uh, but in
150. 6:21reality, it was, you know, it was my
151. 6:23nudging. It was my, uh, leading them
152. 6:25away from certain gifts, leading them
153. 6:27into a different direction. Um, etc.,
154. 6:29etc. Um, so what I'm trying to get at
155. 6:32here is the idea of, uh, the the
156. 6:34relationship between a desire and an
157. 6:36action isn't always about autonomy. And
158. 6:40how this relates to ethics for
159. 6:42professions is the idea that as a
160. 6:44professional you have the opportunity uh
161. 6:47to shape clients desires. Um and by
162. 6:51shaping these desires are you hindering
163. 6:54their autonomy? Are you compromising
164. 6:56their autonomy or are you allowing uh
165. 6:59their autonomy to guide them to their
166. 7:02decisions? So what should the ethical
167. 7:05professional do when it comes to client
168. 7:07autonomy? Um the idea is that rather
169. 7:10than being mere problem solvers, uh the
170. 7:14professional should work towards
171. 7:16empowering the client. So here's the
172. 7:18deal. So you can easily solve your
173. 7:21client's problems, right? You went to
174. 7:23school for this, you've done this uh for
175. 7:25many years, you know how to handle this,
176. 7:28etc. So you can easily solve their
177. 7:30problems. But the idea is that by merely
178. 7:33solving their problems, this creates a
179. 7:36dependency on you. And while this seems
180. 7:38like this is a great situation because
181. 7:40this will create dependency upon you uh
182. 7:43in the long run, this actually leads to
183. 7:46a loss of client retention. Um clients
184. 7:49don't come back to you because they uh
185. 7:51don't feel like their needs are being
186. 7:54met by you rather than merely solving
187. 7:57their problem which diminishes their
188. 7:59autonomy. uh the effective and moral and
189. 8:03ethical professional should work towards
190. 8:05empowering their client by utilizing
191. 8:08their autonomy by fostering their
192. 8:11autonomy. Yes, not only are you meeting
193. 8:13their needs uh and solving their
194. 8:16problem, but you are giving back client
195. 8:18autonomy. Uh you're allowing them to be
196. 8:22part of this process. uh you're allowing
197. 8:24them to utilize um their own
198. 8:27understanding of the situation to uh be
199. 8:30part of this uh activity of trying to
200. 8:33figure out what they need and how best
201. 8:35to address this need. Empowering doesn't
202. 8:38mean uh you teach the client um how to
203. 8:41do what you do. I mean that's not
204. 8:42possible, right? You went to school for
205. 8:44many many years. You've been doing this
206. 8:45for many years. Uh again empowering is
207. 8:47not teaching them how to do what you do
208. 8:50but also you can teach the client how to
209. 8:53do a couple things here and there so
210. 8:54that they feel like they understand the
211. 8:56situation they feel they can handle um
212. 8:59some minor situations uh and when
213. 9:02something bigger occurs they come back
214. 9:03to you etc etc right so empowering is
215. 9:06utilizing their autonomy uh through
216. 9:09education through meeting their uh needs
217. 9:13by uh hearing uh what they have to say
218. 9:15about the situation uh and including
219. 9:18their input into the solution and in the
220. 9:20end this leads to more client retention.
221. 9:23Um the idea that the client may go back
222. 9:25to you uh over and over because they
223. 9:27know that uh when a problem arises they
224. 9:30know uh that you are equipped to handle
225. 9:32this, right? They uh seen you in
226. 9:34practice. They know that you'll be
227. 9:36working with them. They know that you
228. 9:38care about their needs and uphold their
229. 9:41autonomy. Um, so they go back to you or
230. 9:44the idea that uh when they know of
231. 9:47somebody that needs your uh the type of
232. 9:49service that you provide, they have a
233. 9:51person that they could recommend, say,
234. 9:53"Oh, go to this person." Um, they know
235. 9:55what they're doing. Uh, they know how to
236. 9:58address your needs. They know how to
237. 10:00listen to uh your desires. Uh, they
238. 10:02won't, you know, trample all over you.
239. 10:04Uh, but they'll hear you out and offer
240. 10:07you a great solution. Not only does this
241. 10:10uh lead to client retention but it also
242. 10:12spreads out responsibility right? If you
243. 10:15are the sole problem solver then all the
244. 10:17responsibility falls on you. However, if
245. 10:20you are utilizing client autonomy that
246. 10:22spreads the responsibility uh between
247. 10:25you and the client. And then finally as
248. 10:28we mentioned before the main idea is
249. 10:31that by empowering the client you are
250. 10:33fostering client autonomy. you are
251. 10:36utilizing um the client's autonomy uh in
252. 10:40the process of solving their situation
253. 10:43or addressing their needs. Um and in
254. 10:45doing so you are fostering more than
255. 10:48just uh a mere uh solving of the problem
256. 10:51but you are fostering the client's own
257. 10:54autonomy and their own abilities uh to
258. 10:57address the situation or the task at
259. 11:00hand. So I hope this was helpful uh and
260. 11:02give you a little insight into the role
261. 11:04of autonomy when it comes to ethics
262. 11:06professions. If you have any question or
263. 11:08comments, uh please ask them down below.