PRIVACY AND THE THREAT TO THE SELF

By: Michael P. Lynch

Published: June 22, 2013; The New York Times Opinionator; www.nytimes.com Alternatively, google the title and the writer’s name.

Level of Difficulty: ** (Don’t make this the first level ** you do)

BEFORE YOU READ

·         How concerned are you about your security?

·         How concerned are you about the growing web of surveillance? Do you see it as a necessary evil or something to approach with caution?

NOW CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING

The dangers of loss of privacy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529236/US-whistleblower-Edward-Snowden-delivers-alternative-Christmas-message.html

FBI director on privacy, electronic surveillance

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-director-james-comey-on-privacy-and-surveillance/  

  QUESTIONS

1. What does the phrase “This way of framing the issue” at the beginning of the second paragraph refer to?
2. Privacy is important as a political concept because……………………………………………………..
3. Who has privileged access to a person’s thoughts?
4. What does this privileged access entail?
5. What does “that” refer to in the phrase “Freud cured us of that”? The idea that…………………
6. The writer says “contemporary neuroscience and psychology have convinced many of us otherwise”. What change in thinking has contemporary neuroscience and psychology brought about?
7. What aspect of Descartes’ philosophy does the writer support?
8. According to the thought experiment, what would the ultimate consequence of having complete access to an individual’s thoughts and feelings be?
9. The above thought experiment could actually occur if …………………………………………………………
10. Why would the subject in the thought experiment be dehumanized?
11. What does “It” refer to in the phrase “it is at the root of interrogation techniques”?
12. Free and open communication on an equal footing would be impossible if we failed to………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
13.  The aspect of personhood which the writer feels is endangered in the current era is:................ The reason for the writer's concern is the fact that ……………………
14. The view that we need to strike a balance between our need for privacy and our security is an oversimplification because ………………………………………………………………………………………………

WRITING TASK

Write an essay discussing to what extent you agree with the writer’s views as stated in the text.

PRIVACY AND THE THREAT TO THE SELF KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

It is very rare that I come across a text about such a complex issue written relatively simply. The text has been written by a professor of philosophy and is subject-wise very challenging yet the language is perfectly fine, which makes it a wonderful alternative for those Jack and Jill texts. It is suggested that you consider the writing task as a free writing and approach it very flexibly

1. We face a tradeoff between safety and convenience on one hand and privacy on the other. We just need to find the right balance.
2. What is private is what is yours alone to control without interference from others and the state
3. The individual
4. You can access your thoughts in a way I can’t; you can, at least sometimes, control what I know about your thoughts
5. All thoughts were conscious or transparent
6. Our minds are not non physical and they are not distinct from the brain.
7. To be an autonomous person is to be capable of having privileged access to information about your psychological profile… OR A capacity for privacy is a necessary condition of autonomous personhood
8. Control ( The minimum you need)
9. If the government or some entity should request the identity of the person making searches on an issue like “Am I gay?” “What is terrorism?” or “What is atheism?” for security purposes.
10. The relationship between the subject and the knower would be so lopsided that there might cease to be anything subjective about you.
11. Dehumanization
12. See on another as subjects, as persons whose thoughts are our own
13. The concept of an autonomous person. It is the idea we use when we think of ourselves as adult selves
14. To the extent we risk the loss of privacy , we risk, in a very real sense, the loss of our very status as subjective autonomous persons