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Autonomy in chimpanzees

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Abstract

Literature on the mental capacities and cognitive mechanisms of the great apes has been silent about whether they can act autonomously. This paper provides a philosophical theory of autonomy supported by psychological studies of the cognitive mechanisms that underlie chimpanzee behavior to argue that chimpanzees can act autonomously even though their psychological mechanisms differ from those of humans. Chimpanzees satisfy the two basic conditions of autonomy: (1) liberty (the absence of controlling influences) and (2) agency (self-initiated intentional action), each of which is specified here in terms of conditions of understanding, intention, and self-control. In this account, chimpanzees make knowledge-based choices reflecting a richly information-based and socially sophisticated understanding of the world. Finally, two major theories of autonomy (Kantian theory and two-level theory) are rejected as too narrow to adequately address these issues, necessitating the modifications made in the present approach.

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Notes

  1. See the different conceptual analyses of autonomy and theories of autonomy discussed in [1, 2].

  2. See the original formulation of this view in Faden and Beauchamp [4, ch. 10].

  3. For a brilliant exposition of Darwin and the moral importance of his theories about nonhuman animals, see Rachels [44].

  4. For a relevant insight about minimal autonomy, see [31, p. 82].

  5. Frankfurt’s account of autonomy is less well developed than his theory of persons, but see further his account of autonomy in [45, chs. 9, 11].

  6. For a number of these issues, see Varner [52].

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1058186. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, 425 Healy Bldg, Washington, DC, 20057, USA

    Tom L. Beauchamp

  2. Department of Psychology, Harvard University, William James Hall, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Victoria Wobber

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  1. Tom L. Beauchamp
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  2. Victoria Wobber
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Correspondence to Tom L. Beauchamp.

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Beauchamp, T.L., Wobber, V. Autonomy in chimpanzees. Theor Med Bioeth 35, 117–132 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-014-9287-3

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