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BDI agent languages provide a useful abstraction for complex systems comprised of interactive autonomous entities, but they have been used mostly in the context of single agents with a static plan library of behaviours invoked reactively. These languages provide a theoretically sound basis for agent design but are very limited in providing direct support for autonomy and societal cooperation ne...

In the paper we introduce a quantitative measure of autonomy in multiagent interactions. We quantify and analyse different types of agent autonomy: (a) decision autonomy versus action autonomy, (b) autonomy with respect to an agent’s user, (c) autonomy with respect to other agents and groups of agents, and (d) a measure of group autonomy that accounts for the degree with which one group depends...

In this paper, I subject the claim that autonomous choice is an intrinsic welfare benefit to critical scrutiny. My argument begins by discussing perhaps the most influential argument in favor of the intrinsic value of autonomy: the argument from deference. In response, I hold that this argument displays what I call the ‘Autonomy Fallacy’: the argument from deference has no power to support the ...

Autonomy is an often cited but rarely agreed upon agent characteristic. As the demand for agents capable of adjustable autonomy increases, a formal definition of agent autonomy becomes necessary to provide a foundation for work in the area as well as to support operational deployment of the concept. This paper presents such a definition. Based on this definition, an autonomy representation is p...

Recently, we have witnessed the emergence of what appears to be a new set of claims in contemporary social movements based around the idea of autonomy. In this paper we interrogate this demand for autonomy. In order to do this, we first engage with existing literatures, identifying three main conceptions of autonomy: 1) autonomous practices vis-à-vis capital, or, what Negri calls, the ‘selfvalo...

Two studies examined autonomy support within close friendships. The first showed that receiving autonomy support from a friend predicted the recipient's need satisfaction within the relationship and relationship quality as indexed by emotional reliance, security of attachment, dyadic adjustment, and inclusion of friend in self and that there was significant mutuality of receiving autonomy suppo...

This paper investigates the determinants of female autonomy in Indonesia using the 2000 Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS3). We consider the role of kinship norms and the effect of labor force participation on female autonomy. Our measure of autonomy is based on self-reported answers to an array of questions relating to decision making authority in the household. They include economic and chi...