Topics Ethics

Question What do you think is the "right to know"? And what gives someone that "right" to know something?

Accepted:
October 19, 2005

Comments

A right to know is a moral orlegal claim, in principle enforceable, which a specific person or grouphas against another specific person or group that the latter notwithhold specific information from them. Such a claim typicallypresupposes a certain kind of relation between the two parties as wellas a strong need or interest by the second party in the information.For example, an uninfected woman has a strong interest in knowing thather partner is HIV-positive and, given their relationship, she has aright that he inform her. There may be third parties (mutualacquaintances, for instance) with a moral obligation to tell her (ifthey know). But this obligation does not normally correspond to a moralright on her part against them. The absence of a corresponding moralright means that the obligation is not enforceable: While it would bepermissible to criminalize her partner’s withholding of theinformation, it would not be permissible to criminalize suchwithholding by third parties.

Talkof a right to know functions similarly in other contexts. One may havea right against one’s lawyer or financial adviser that they discloseinformation about any potential conflict of interest. And a country’scitizens may have a similar right against their politicians. Reportersoften appeal to citizens’ right to know in defense of their disclosureof sensitive information about politicians. If citizens do indeed havea right to some particular information, then it is permissible for thereporter to disclose it – then the politician ought to have disclosedthe information, and the reporter is, as it were, enforcing thisobligation. It is controversial, of course, what sort of informationabout our politicians we citizens really need and hence have a moralright to. The answer is to some extent settled by convention; and then,when one enters politics, one does so on the understanding thatcitizens thereby come to be entitled to certain information aboutoneself to which they would otherwise have no right.

Question What do you think is the "right to know"? And what gives someone that "right" to know something? Accepted:October 19, 2005

Question What do you think is the "right to know"? And what gives someone that "right" to know something?

Accepted:
October 19, 2005