The account of autonomy and law defended here is founded on the notion of autonomy as the balancing of normative arguments. It is distinct from common accounts of normative reasoning and of law in various respects. Its core elements are normative arguments, the normative competence of autonomous agents to present such arguments, normative judgements as the result of balancing, criteria of rational balancing and the demand of intersubjective reflection, and objective validity grounded on reasonable convergence. Furthermore, it includes formal principles as the foundation of the authoritative character of law, and the notion of rights that are in principle immune against balancing.