In this article, I intend to clarify some of the assumptions of the following claim: when one acknowledges that care is a universal concern since vulnerability is an anthropological given, one has to admit that education (in the broadest sense of the word, that is to say defined as growth involving others) is a lifelong ongoing process. This essay thus evaluates the idea that we should adopt education as a model, symbol or metaphor for autonomy, drawing on the arguments developed in Jennifer Nedelsky’s famous article, “Reconceiving Autonomy: Sources, Thoughts and Possibilities” (1989).