Topics Ethics

Question What are the ethics of anonymity? When do people have a right to remain anonymous, and when are they obligated to reveal their association with their actions?

Accepted:
August 11, 2006

Comments

An interesting question, and one that has received some -- though surprisingly little -- attention in philosophical ethics (e.g. in discussions about civil disobedience or whistle-blowing). I'm not sure, however, that there is really an 'ethics of anonymity', as if that is something autonomous or independent of some normative ethical view or other. You mention 'the right to anonymity', for example. Some philosophers (most famously Jeremy Bentham, who described rights as 'nonsense' and natural rights as 'nonsense upon stilts) don't believe that we have any rights. Others will say that we do, but there's a great deal of disagreement about which ones. For what it's worth, I suspect that in many areas of life where issues of anonymity arise, there are, or should be, codes of practice governing when anonymity is justified, and that these codes of practice should be based on advancing the well-being of all sentient beings, impartially considered.

Question What are the ethics of anonymity? When do people have a right to remain anonymous, and when are they obligated to reveal their association with their actions? Accepted:August 11, 2006

Question What are the ethics of anonymity? When do people have a right to remain anonymous, and when are they obligated to reveal their association with their actions?

Accepted:
August 11, 2006