Skip to main content

Reproductive autonomy as self-making: procreative liberty and the practice of ethical subjectivity.

Author
Abstract
:

In this article, I consider recent debates on the notion of procreative liberty, to argue that reproductive freedom can be understood as a form of positive freedom-that is, the freedom to make oneself according to various ethical and aesthetic principles or values. To make this argument, I draw on Michel Foucault's later work on ethics. Both adopting and adapting Foucault's notion of ethics as a practice of the self and of liberty, I argue that reproductive autonomy requires enactment to gain meaning within the life contexts of prospective parents. Thus, I propose a shift away from the standard negative model of freedom that sees it solely as a matter of noninterference or nonimpedance, a view advocated by major commentators such as John Harris and John Robertson. Instead, reproduction should be understood as a deeply personal project of self-making that integrates both negative and positive freedom.

Year of Publication
:
2013
Journal
:
The Journal of medicine and philosophy
Volume
:
38
Issue
:
6
Number of Pages
:
639-56
ISSN Number
:
0360-5310
URL
:
https://academic.oup.com/jmp/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/jmp/jht046
DOI
:
10.1093/jmp/jht046
Short Title
:
J Med Philos
Download citation