The Value of Privacy

This new book by Beate Rössler is a work of real quality and originality on an extremely topical issue: the issue of privacy and the relations between the private and the public. <br /> <p><br /> </p> <p>Rössler investigates the reasons why we value privacy and why we ought to value it. In the context of modern, liberal societies, Rössler develops a theory of the private which links privacy and autonomy in a constitutive way: privacy is a necessary condition to lead an autonomous life. The book develops a theory of freedom and autonomy which sees the ability to pose the “practical question” of how one wants to live, of what a person strives to be, at the centre of the modern idea of autonomy.<br /> </p> <p><br /> </p> <p>The question of privacy is emerging as an increasingly important topic in social and political theory and is central to many current debates in law, the media and politics. <i>The Value of Privacy</i> will be widely recognised to be a classic contribution to the subject.</p>