Privacy in a Public Society

Download or read book Privacy in a Public Society written by Richard F. Hixson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1987 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this controversial volume, Hixson asserts that "an open and democratic society cannot tolerate a high degree of privacy." He argues that whenever personal privacy becomes a mere self-protecting shield, it is self-defeating and attained at the expense of the community's well-being. A comprehensive examination, this volume considers the humanistic and utilitarian values expressed by Jefferson, Bentham, Tocqueville, Emerson, and Holmes, as well as 20th-century public philosophies of Hannah Arendt, Ronald Dworkin, Alexander Meiklejohn, Robert Bellah, and others.