Overview

What can philosophy tell us about privacy? Quite a lot as it turns out. With Privacy and Philosophy: New Media and Affective Protocol Andrew McStay draws on an array of philosophers to offer a refreshingly novel approach to privacy matters. Against the backdrop and scrutiny of Arendt, Aristotle, Bentham, Brentano, Deleuze, Engels, Heidegger, Hume, Husserl, James, Kant, Latour, Locke, Marx, Mill, Plato, Rorty, Ryle, Sartre, Skinner, Spinoza, Whitehead and Wittgenstein, among others, McStay advances a wealth of new ideas and terminology, from affective breaches to zombie media. Theorizing privacy as an affective principle of interaction between human and non-human actors, McStay progresses to make unique arguments on transparency, the publicness of subjectivity, our contemporary techno-social condition and the nature of empathic media in an age of intentional machines. Reconstructing our most basic assumptions about privacy, this book is a must-read for theoreticians, empirical analysts, students, those contributing to policy and anyone interested in the steering philosophical ideas that inform their own orientation and thinking about privacy.

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9781433118982

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Reviews

Contemporary privacy issues tend to be discussed in legal, policy or sociological terms. McStay adds a welcome philosophical context to this discussion. Impressively erudite, Privacy and Philosophy takes the reader on a trans-century tour that enlarges our understanding of the idea and its implications. (Joseph Turow, The Annenberg School for Communication) More than at any other time in recent history we are confronted with the pressing questions and contradictions raised by the notion of privacy - and McStay's brilliantly illuminating philosophical tour of the concept provides thoughtful and original answers that will serve as touchstones for discussions of privacy in the era of Facebook, NSA data mining and beyond. (Mark Andrejevic, The University of Queensland) The book gives a very original and kaleidoscopic perspective on the notion of privacy in an age of social and ubiquitous media. The well-chosen selection and in-depth discussion of evident and less evident philosophical views broadens and deepens the view on this timely and intensely discussed issue. Especially the framing of privacy as an affective set of protocols within the social realm offers relevant and refreshing insights. (Jo Pierson, Associate Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (iMinds-SMIT)) Offering a fresh and authoritative take on an established concept, McStay avoids the trap of only asking what philosophy can tell us about privacy, but also considers what privacy can tell us about epistemology, ontology and metaphysics. This is an important contribution to our understanding of how privacy and publicity operate in culture today. (Clare Birchall, King's College, London) Contemporary privacy issues tend to be discussed in legal, policy or sociological terms. McStay adds a welcome philosophical context to this discussion. Impressively erudite, Privacy and Philosophy takes the reader on a trans-century tour that enlarges our understanding of the idea and its implications. (Joseph Turow, The Annenberg School for Communication) More than at any other time in recent history we are confronted with the pressing questions and contradictions raised by the notion of privacy - and McStay's brilliantly illuminating philosophical tour of the concept provides thoughtful and original answers that will serve as touchstones for discussions of privacy in the era of Facebook, NSA data mining and beyond. (Mark Andrejevic, The University of Queensland) The book gives a very original and kaleidoscopic perspective on the notion of privacy in an age of social and ubiquitous media. The well-chosen selection and in-depth discussion of evident and less evident philosophical views broadens and deepens the view on this timely and intensely discussed issue. Especially the framing of privacy as an affective set of protocols within the social realm offers relevant and refreshing insights. (Jo Pierson, Associate Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (iMinds-SMIT)) Offering a fresh and authoritative take on an established concept, McStay avoids the trap of only asking what philosophy can tell us about privacy, but also considers what privacy can tell us about epistemology, ontology and metaphysics. This is an important contribution to our understanding of how privacy and publicity operate in culture today. (Clare Birchall, King's College, London)

Contemporary privacy issues tend to be discussed in legal, policy or sociological terms. McStay adds a welcome philosophical context to this discussion. Impressively erudite, Privacy and Philosophy takes the reader on a trans-century tour that enlarges our understanding of the idea and its implications. (Joseph Turow, The Annenberg School for Communication) More than at any other time in recent history we are confronted with the pressing questions and contradictions raised by the notion of privacy - and McStay's brilliantly illuminating philosophical tour of the concept provides thoughtful and original answers that will serve as touchstones for discussions of privacy in the era of Facebook, NSA data mining and beyond. (Mark Andrejevic, The University of Queensland) The book gives a very original and kaleidoscopic perspective on the notion of privacy in an age of social and ubiquitous media. The well-chosen selection and in-depth discussion of evident and less evident philosophical views broadens and deepens the view on this timely and intensely discussed issue. Especially the framing of privacy as an affective set of protocols within the social realm offers relevant and refreshing insights. (Jo Pierson, Associate Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (iMinds-SMIT)) Offering a fresh and authoritative take on an established concept, McStay avoids the trap of only asking what philosophy can tell us about privacy, but also considers what privacy can tell us about epistemology, ontology and metaphysics. This is an important contribution to our understanding of how privacy and publicity operate in culture today. (Clare Birchall, King's College, London)

Author Information

Andrew McStay (PhD, University of West London) is Senior Lecturer in Media Culture at Bangor University. He is the author of Digital Advertising (2009); The Mood of Information: A Critique of Online Behavioural Advertising (2011) and Creativity and Advertising: Affect, Events and Process (2013).

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