Bok: Control Over Secrecy

"The claims in defense of some control over secrecy and openness invoke four different, though in practice inseparable, elements of human autonomy: [i] identity, [ii] plans, [iii] action, and [iv] property. They concern protection of what we are, what we intend, what we do, and what we own. Some capacity for keeping secrets and for choosing when to reveal them, and some access to the underlying experience of secrecy and depth, are indispensable for an enduring sense of identity, for the ability to plan and to act, and for essential belongings. With no control over secrecy and openness, human beings could not remain either sane or free." (MVS p.268b)


Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 12 November 2011