The Private Sphere: An Emotional Territory And Its Agent

184 Pages·2008·3.85 MB·English

by  Mats G. Hansson (auth.)

THEPRIVATESPHERE
Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture
VOLUME15
SeriesEditor
H.TristramEngelhardt,Jr.,DepartmentofPhilosophy,RiceUniversity,andBaylor
CollegeofMedicine,Houston,Texas
AssociateEditor
KevinWm.Wildes,S.J.,DepartmentofPhilosophyandKennedyInstituteof
Ethics,GeorgetownUniversity,Washington,D.C.
AssistantEditor
LisaRasmussen,UniversityofNorthCarolina,Charlotte,USA
EditorialBoard
StanleyHauerwas,DukeUniversity,Durham,N.C.
MaureenKelley,UniversityofAlabama,Birmingham
TerryPinkard,NorthwesternUniversity,Evanston,Illinois
GriffinTrotter,SaintLouisUniversity,Missouri
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedattheendofthisvolume.
THE PRIVATE SPHERE
An Emotional Territory And Its Agent
Mats G.Hansson
UppsalaUniversity,
Sweden
Author
MatsG.Hansson
UppsalaUniversity
Sweden
ISBN:978-1-4020-6651-1 e-ISBN:978-1-4020-6652-8
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2007938403
(cid:2)c 2008SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.
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Foreword
Thepresentworkhasemergedastheresultofseveralyears’involvementinvarious
multidisciplinary research projects which have been carried out within the Re-
searchProgrammeinBiomedicalEthicsatUppsalaUniversity,nowtheCentrefor
Bioethicsat KarolinskaInstitutetandUppsala University.I am gratefulto various
colleagueswho havetaken part,whetherbrieflyor at length,in discussionsofthe
conceptsofprivacyand integrity.Hearty thanksmustgo to GertHelgesson,Ulrik
vonEssen,PärSegerdahlandRichardWessmanwhohavereadtheinitialversionof
thebookandprovidedusefulcomments.IamparticularlyindebtedtoPärfortaking
the trouble to read the whole manuscript a second time. Arne Öhman and his re-
searchgroupatthePsychologySectionintheDepartmentofClinicalNeurosciences
at KarolinskaInstitutet read an earlier versionof Chapters 3 and 4. This provided
aconstructiveandrewardingdiscussionwhichwasofparticularvaluetomesince
psychologydidnotformpartofmyownprofessionaltraining.SvenDanielssonand
themembersofhisresearchseminarinpracticalphilosophyatUppsalaUniversity
readChapters5and6andofferedconstructivecriticism.Theircriticalviewshelped
me to try to express more clearly the aim of these chapters within the framework
ofthebookasawhole.Allthereadersofthebookorpartsofitcancertainlyhave
reason to wish for further revisions or indeed for a different presentation of the
problem of understanding the role of the agent in the private sphere. I alone am
responsibleforthefinalversionwithwhateverresidualdefectsitmaystillpossess.
I am also grateful to various bodies who have provided the economic support
allowing me to carry out a multidisciplinary research project on questions relat-
ing to integrity. They are: Knut and Alice Wallenberg’s Foundation (the National
BiobankProgramwithinWallenbergConsortiumNorthandSweGene,theSwedish
Council for Social Research, now the Swedish Council for Working Life and So-
cialResearch),theFoundationforStrategicResearch,theEthical,LegalandSocial
Aspects of Genome and Gene Technology Research (ELSA) Programme and the
SwedishAgencyforInnovationSystems,VINNOVA).
v
vi Foreword
Translation
ThemanuscripthasbeentranslatedbyDr.CraigMcKay.Besideshislanguageex-
pertise I have benefitted greatly from his philosophical insights and his personal
interestinquestionsrelatedtoprivacyandintegrity.Ihavereallyenjoyedourcon-
versationsthisspringandIam gratefultohimforthe skill,time andefforthehas
broughttotheprojectatthisfinalstage.
Uppsala,3August2007
MatsG.Hansson
Contents
Introduction....................................................... 1
A New Approachto Understandingthe Conceptsof Privacy
andIntegrity................................................ 1
FourLiteraryContributionsasanIntroductiontoUnderstanding
theConceptofIntegrity ...................................... 3
JuhaniAho .......................................... 3
Carl-ErikafGeijerstam ................................ 6
SvenBarthel ......................................... 7
ThePrivateSpherefromaHistoricalandCulturalPerspective ...... 8
ThePrivateSphereasanEmotionalTerritory–APsychological
andEvolutionaryPerspective.................................. 9
IntegrityasSomethingWhichisMorallyWorthProtecting......... 11
RespectfortheIndividualasaPersonwithMoralandPolitical
Authority–IntegrityfromaPhilosophicalPerspective............. 12
Balancing Seclusion and Participation – Integrity
fromthePerspectiveofMoralPhilosophy,JurisprudenceandtheLaw 13
IntegrityasaQualityWorthyofEsteemandRespect .............. 13
TheRelationshipBetweenPrivacyandIntegrity .................. 14
1 ThePrivateSpherefromaHistoricalandCulturalPerspective ....... 15
1.1 IntheSupposedSeclusionoftheHome ......................... 16
1.2 WhatWilltheNeighboursSay?................................ 22
1.3 PowerOverSpiritualLifeandThought–ThePrivateSpherefrom
aReligiousPerspective....................................... 25
1.4 ToRetirewithaBook–ThePrivateSpherefromaLiteraryPerspective 29
1.5 ToParticipateinDrawingaLineBetweenWhatIsPublicandWhat
IsPrivate................................................... 32
2 The Private Sphere as an Emotional Territory – A Psychological
andEvolutionaryPerspective..................................... 33
2.1 EmotionsWhichAreConstitutiveforaPerson’sPrivateSphere..... 33
2.2 TheEmotionalTerritory’sSignificanceinEvolutionaryDevelopment 38
2.3 Integrity–ACompositePropertyoftheIndividual................ 42
vii
viii Contents
2.4 ThreeCandidates:Fear,EmbarrassmentandPride ................ 43
2.5 The Role of the Emotions in the Establishment of Social
Order–DominanceandSubmission............................ 47
2.6 TheExperienceofSelf ....................................... 49
3 IntegrityasSomethingWorthyofMoralProtection ................. 53
3.1 ATeleologicalPerspectivewithRegardtoIntegrity ............... 54
3.2 The MoralValueofProtectionOriginatinginthe Individual’s
CapacityforSentientExperience............................... 56
3.3 The Moral Value of Protection from the Viewpoint
oftheIndividual’sCapacityforAction.......................... 59
3.4 IntegrityasaSociallySignificantProperty–TheStartingPoint
forMoralIntegrity........................................... 63
4 Respect forthe Individualasa PersonwithMoralandPolitical
Authority–IntegrityfromaPhilosophicalPerspective .............. 71
4.1 IndividualFreedomMeaningfulFirstinaSocialContext .......... 73
4.2 IndividualFreedomExhibitedatDifferentSocialLevels ........... 76
4.3 ANewApproachtoSelf-Determination......................... 78
4.4 SocialRecognition:FromSeparationtoParticipation.............. 80
4.5 RespectforIntegrityasSocialRecognition ...................... 82
4.6 TheIndividualasaPersonwithMoralandPoliticalAuthority ...... 86
4.7 ParticipatingwithKnowledge,InsightandInfluence .............. 88
5 Balancing Seclusion and Participation – Integrity from the
PerspectiveofMoralPhilosophy .................................. 91
5.1 IstheProtectionofPrivateLifeAdequatelyCoveredbyOtherRights? 94
5.2 SocialConventionsShifttheBoundaries ........................ 95
5.3 TheBasicInterestinAvoidingCertainTypesofInsightandInvasion 98
5.4 TheValueofaDifferentiatedSocialLife ........................ 99
5.5 Non-interferenceDoesNotSolvetheDilemmaofBalancingInterests101
5.6 BasisforBalancingInterests ..................................103
6 Legal Protection– Privacyand Integrity fromthe Perspective
ofJurisprudenceandtheLaw ....................................109
6.1 TheDeclarationsSettheBasicTone............................110
6.2 TheSignificanceofthePrivateSphereforDemocracy.............113
6.3 TheRighttoProtectWhatIsOne’sOwn ........................114
6.4 LegislationArrivesattheSameResultbutinDifferentWays .......116
6.5 FocussingonaCarefulLegalProcess...........................118
6.6 TheLimitationsoftheConsentNorm...........................123
6.7 RespectforPrivateLifeasaComplementtotheConsent ..........125
7 IntegrityasaQualityWorthyofEsteemandRespect................133
7.1 TheContinuityoftheConceptofIntegrity.......................133
7.2 BeingTruetoOneselfandOthers ..............................135
Contents ix
7.3 IntegrityasBothaPersonalandSocialProperty..................140
7.4 InContactwiththeInternalGoalofanActivity ..................141
7.5 TheMoralSubstancePsychologicallyGrounded .................144
8 ConclusionsandApplications.....................................151
8.1 Conclusions ................................................151
8.1.1 WhatIsIntegrity?.....................................151
8.1.2 WhyOughtOnetoRespectanIndividual’sIntegrity?.......152
8.1.3 HowShouldtheInterestofIntegritybeWeighedAgainst
OtherInterests?......................................153
8.2 Ethical Considerations Involved in Balancing Interests
inBiobankResearch .........................................154
8.2.1 BiosamplesTakenforDifferentPurposes .................154
8.2.2 GeneticsasHyperbole.................................156
8.2.3 ToBeLeftinPeacebutattheSameTimetoParticipate .....158
8.2.4 ToParticipateintheDevelopmentofMedicalKnowledge ...160
8.2.5 TheIntegrityoftheResearcherandPersonsinAuthority ....161
References.........................................................163
Index .............................................................173