Ethics - The value of privacy

10 important questions on Ethics - The value of privacy

Why is privacy necessary for autonomy?

Privacy --> different roles --> chosing who you want to be, only when you have privacy you can exert different roles.

Which 2 models that are used to explain the predicate "private" are explained by Roessler Roessler?

  • onion model: various layers. core = personal/bodily privacy, then: relationships with family. then: privacy in society
  • "private" is a predicate of actions/decisions that we do or not do, regardless of where we happen to be.

According to Roessler, we use the term private to refer to...

  • modes of action and conduct
  • a certain knowledge
  • spaces
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In which 5 categories can definitions of privacy be arranged?

  1. private = whatever naturally falls within the sphere of the household/reproduction/biological necessities
  2. privacy is the right to be left alone, a negative civil liberty
  3. privacy is being inaccesible to others
  4. privacy = having control over personal information, over who can acces intimancy
  5. privacy = condition in which one is protected in various respects from unwanted intrusions by other people

How does Roessler define private?

Something counts as private if one can oneself control the access to this something

What is decisional privacy?

When we claim the right to protection from unwanted acces in the sense of our heteroonomy in our decisions and actions.

What is informational privacy?

When we claim the right to protection against unwanted access in the sense of interference in our personal data.

What is local privacy?

When we claim the right to protection against the admission of other people to spaces and areas.

Why is privacy so important for a liberal democracy?

the distinction between the private and the public is essential in a liberal democracy: this distinction provides protection against inadmissible interference of a persons freedom by the state.

Explain the different views on privacy in Germany and the US, based on the concepts of autonomy and authenticity.

US: right to abortion is based on the right to decisional privacy. self-determination. The right to be left alone. autonomy is coupled to decisional privacy.
Germany: privacy is more about being able to present yourself in your own way, authenticity. regarding to intrustions into your daily life, monitoring.

Germany: privacy in the sense of control over the authenticity of our self-presentations
US: privacy in the sense of protection of autonomous actions and decisions

Different contextualizations of the same idea: the ideal of being able to lead a self-determined, autonomous and authentic life

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