Stephen Pethick (Kent): "A New Theory of Privacy"

Dr Stephen Pethick, Senior Lecturer, Director of Education, and LLB Director of Studies at the University of Kent, presents the third paper of Hilary Term 2024, "A New Theory of Privacy".

ABSTRACT:

Privacy is a concept in disarray – no-one can agree what it is. Yet one answer has been
largely overlooked: privacy is freedom from intrusion. In this paper I argue the merits of this account, showing that existing proposals suffer in comparison for failing to attend carefully, or at all, to the distinction between what is private, and what privacy is. This inattention has prompted accounts and definitions of privacy that are unsurprisingly partial, esoteric and so, divisive, leaving many to conclude that privacy is elusive, evanescent, fuzzy, and possibly resistant to definition altogether. Shorn of the methodological oversight, freedom from intrusion emerges as a properly general, clear account of privacy that fits our linguistic phenomena and so, as it happens, already commands everyone’s implicit assent.

This seminar takes place in the Arthur Goodhart Seminar Room, University College, at 5:00pm on Thursday February 1st.

The Room is located in Logic Lane and can be accessed from High St. or Merton St. without having to go through the main entrance to Univ College.
 

This event is open to anyone. No registration needed.

Pre-reading is desirable and strongly suggested, but not a requirement to attend.

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