The Theoretical Exploration Of The Relationship Between Adaptive Preference And Autonomy

"Preference" reveals someone’s understanding of "good" and "what is a good life".It shows the true self,also,it is a reference for government to set and value social policy.Adaptive preferences as a special kind of preference,is a response to a restrictive environment,and embodies the effect of the social environment and relationships on the personal choice and the construction about self-knowledge.Due to the particularity of adaptive preferences,whether the adaptive preferences have the function of general preference has been widely questioned.and the question is focused on whether the adaptive preference is autonomous.At present,there are two main directions for the discussion of autonomy,one is the theory of traditional procedural autonomy and the other is the substantive relational autonomy theory,the former claims that when a person experiences critical reflection,autonomy is achieved,In the latter view,the realization of autonomy requires not only the ability of critical reflection,but also some substantive limits on the conditions for the realization of preferences,for instance,the historical process of preference formation is not excluded,having good Interpersonal relationships and certain attitudes toward oneself,in particular,attitudes of self-respect,self-trust,and self-esteem.however,both the theory of traditional procedural autonomy and the substantive relational autonomy theory,they all face further refutation,when they try to solve the problem of adaptive preference.Through an in-depth study of the phenomenon of adaptive preference,we can see that it reveals the profound conflict between individual and social environment and interpersonal relationship.But these factors are not so important as the substantive relational autonomy theory say,because of the different agent will have different reactions when they face the same situation.In order to solve this problem further,it is necessary to regard autonomy as the concept of multidimensionality,that is,autonomous agents,autonomous behaviors,and the improvement of autonomy,which measures the differences in the standards of these three,whether a person is autonomy,the only way is by their own preferences、values and desires,as long as agent sincerely agree with their own preferences,and experienced a process of critical reflection,then he achieved autonomous.But to judge whether a behavior is autonomous,we should examine the content of the behavior and introduce some substantive limits that can be most generalized.In addition,we need to accept the views of relational autonomy,recognizing the vulnerability and dependence of human in ontological sense,and the constructive influence of social environment and interpersonal relationship in cognitive process,It is necessary to understand the improvement of autonomy from the perspective of social relations as an integral part of social justice.For improve autonomy,as the "I" in the relationship,we need to affirm our moral values,and we need to constantly interact with others to correct our own prejudices;As the "he" in the relationship,We need to recognize human interdependence,and have direct or indirect effects on the autonomy of others,thus we have some obligation to respect and help others.Only in this way,we can live in harmony with others,to realize our autonomy from social relations and encounter each other in a moral way.