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The Ties That Blind: Conceptualizing Anonymity, Julie Ponesse

Julie E Ponesse

Despite the fact that talk of anonymity abounds in the twenty-first century (“anonymous sources,” “anonymity promises,” “anonymity guarantees,”), anonymity as a concept has thus far flown very low on the philosophical radar. Those who do write about anonymity do so with either secondary importance, as a way to analyze some other more fundamental value or as a preamble to an analysis of the importance of anonymity in a particular applied context (e.g. the anonymity of whistleblowing). My goal in this paper is not to provide a positive articulation of the concept of anonymity (though I think one is possible) or, …