Autonomy and 'inner distance'

Abstract

The problem I raise here is not what ought to succeed mankind in the sequence of species (- the human being is an end -): but what type of human being one ought to breed, ought to will, as more valuable, more worthy of life, more certain of the future. (Friedrich Nietzsche¹) The question which leads us beyond the grave of our own generation is not 'how will human beings feel in the future', but 'how will they be' ... We do not want to train up feelings of well-being in people, but those characteristics we think constitute the greatness and nobility of our human nature. (Max Weber²)