Abstract
The primary concern of the 19th Century-West was becoming independent from God, i.e., Self-dependence. As a first and necessary step, the West had to liberate itself from the notion of God in their discussion of autonomy. After losing the old Law, Self became a new one. Autonomy was meant to be Self-centered. This process was necessary for discussing the concept of autonomy in its tradition. But, such critical issues as "What kind of Self" and "What kind of law" were unsettled. Early Buddhistm, on the other hand, was freed from the perception of God from its beginnings 2500 years ago. For Buddhists, Self was a decision-maker. But, they found that the notion of Self was the very root that prevented one from becoming autonomous. In other words, instead of liberating themselves from God, they found that they had to liberate themselves from the notion of Self. The liberation from the notion of Self and the independence from it was the primary concern for the realization of autonomy. Early Buddhists arrived at this understanding after observing and examining the mechanism of decision-making and analyzing the harmful nature of Self. They also introduced the methods of transforming heteronomous decision-making into an autonomous one. When one examines the Western understanding of autonomy from the early Buddhist perspective, one will find that the Western notion of autonomy encouraged the person to become Self-centered, while early Buddhist "autonomy" encouraged the person to be Self-less. Apparently, the former understanding is problematic. Indeed, many critically discuss the Western notion of autonomy today. The early Buddhist approach in autonomy seems to cast an insight in re-defining the Western notion of autonomy. It seems utilizable as a universal principle of ethics in approaching ethical issues in general today.
