Deck 4: Sexual Privacy

Question 1

Imagine that your friend starts sending you some sexually explicit pictures of their ex along with some mocking commentary. (This is how your friend is trying to "get over" their ex.) Is it wrong for your friend to do this? Why or why not?

Answer 1

-Include a thesis that's focused and appropriate given the assignment.
-Offer an argument for the thesis that demonstrates an appreciation of the distinctions and moral considerations that Shrage and Stewart discuss.
-Correctly identify and defend the argument's controversial premises using sound reasoning, well-chosen examples, insightful analogies, etc.

Question 2

You suspect that your roommate is having sex with one of your friends in your dorm room, and you'd like to know whether you're right. Discuss this issue in light of the conventional, "core person," and "differentiating relationships" views of privacy.

Answer 2

-Correctly explain the conventional, "core person," and "differentiating relationships" views of privacy.
-Offer plausible applications of those views to the ethics of investigating the friend's activities, being sure to distinguish moral concerns that arise from those views and other moral concerns that might be relevant.

Question 3

In their essay, Laurie Shrage and Robert Stewart look at some issues surrounding privacy after they assume that the differentiating relationships view of privacy best explains the value of privacy. In your essay, start with the assumption that either the conventional view of privacy or the core person view of privacy is the best explanation of the value of privacy (pick only one of these views). Does this account change what we should say about things like sexting or the punishment of violating sexual privacy? If so, how? If not, why not?

Answer 3

-Correctly explain either the conventional view of privacy or the core person view of privacy.
-Offer a defense of the idea that either the conventional view of privacy or the core person view of privacy best explains the value of privacy.
-Describe how, if at all, our understanding of some act like sexting or the prosecution of sexual privacy violations would change should this view of privacy be adopted.

Question 4

Shrage and Stewart say that privacy can take at least three forms. Which of the following is NOT one of those forms?

A) Control over important life decisions without undue interference from others
B) Access to digital platforms where we can act anonymously
C) Control over who has access to sensitive information about us
D) Access to physical spaces where our activities are not visible to others
E) None of these is a form of privacy

Question 5

According to Shrage and Stewart, the digital age makes it difficult to protect which two types of privacy?

A) Informational and physical
B) Informational and decisional
C) Decisional and physical
D) Relational and personal
E) Decisional and personal

Question 6

According to the "conventional" view of privacy, privacy is important because:

A) It enables us to keep our secrets
B) There are parts of myself that I show only to some of the people with whom I interact
C) It protects our fundamental identities
D) It keeps us from being observed or disturbed by other people
E) It helps us separate kinds of relationships

Question 7

According to the "core person" view of privacy, privacy is important because:

A) It enables us to keep our secrets
B) There are parts of myself that I show only to some of the people with whom I interact
C) It protects our fundamental identities
D) It keeps us from being observed or disturbed by other people
E) It helps us separate kinds of relationships

Question 8

According to the "differentiating relationships" view of privacy, privacy is important because:

A) It enables us to keep our secrets
B) There are parts of myself that I show only to some of the people with whom I interact
C) It protects our fundamental identities
D) It keeps us from being observed or disturbed by other people
E) It helps us separate kinds of relationships

Question 9

According to Shrage and Stewart, which view of privacy best explains the value of privacy?

A) The conventional view
B) The core person view
C) The anti-disturbance view
D) The differentiating relationships view
E) The decisional view

Question 10

In the Rehtaeh Parsons case________:

A) A person's roommate used a webcam to spy on her
B) Someone took a photo during a sexual assault
C) An ex-boyfriend posted nude photos that she had shared with him
D) She pretended to be asleep in order to watch her roommate have sex
E) She set up a two-way mirror in a dressing room

Question 11

Shrage and Stewart argue that one should have a reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to whatever they post on Facebook.

Question 12

Shrage and Stewart claim that we should be free from coercion or interference by others when we make decisions about our nonpublic sexual activities.

Question 13

Shrage and Stewart claim that new technologies enhance our ability to protect the forms of privacy we value.