Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation

Overview

Sissela Bok examines secrecy as a moral practice that must be judged, not assumed neutral. She treats concealment and revelation as ethical choices that affect trust, autonomy, and well-being, and she presses readers to weigh competing claims rather than defaulting to silence or revelation. The treatment is practical and argumentative, aimed at providing guidance for individuals and institutions confronting dilemmas about what to keep hidden and when to make things public.

Core Argument

Secrecy is prima facie morally suspect because it withholds information that others might reasonably need to protect their interests, exercise autonomy, or make informed choices. Bok rejects absolutist stances that sanctify either total transparency or complete confidentiality. Instead she insists on deliberate moral reasoning: secrecy is sometimes defensible, but its justification must be publicly assessable and grounded in clear reasons, not merely convenience, power, or avoidance of embarrassment.

Criteria for Justified Secrecy

She proposes a practical test to evaluate claims for secrecy, focusing on the gravity and likelihood of harms prevented by concealment, the availability of less restrictive alternatives, and the consequences of disclosure for trust and social functioning. Justified secrecy should aim to prevent significant harm, be proportionate, and be the last resort after considering whether partial disclosure or other safeguards could achieve the same ends. Motive matters too: secrecy intended to protect vulnerable people or essential functions differs morally from secrecy intended to preserve privilege or hide wrongdoing.

Contexts and Examples

Bok applies her framework across a wide range of domains: personal relationships, professional confidentiality such as in medicine and law, commercial trade secrets, and state secrecy for national security. She examines therapeutic confidentiality and the obligations clinicians owe to patients, while also recognizing situations where disclosure may be necessary to prevent harm. Government secrecy receives close scrutiny because of its capacity to erode democratic accountability; Bok argues that national security cannot be an automatic trump that silences necessary public debate.

Practical and Ethical Consequences

The book emphasizes the relational effects of secrecy. Concealment can corrode trust, create moral corruption among those entrusted with secrets, and produce social harms by preventing oversight. At the same time, the careless demand for absolute openness can violate privacy, undermine intimacy, and produce harms of its own. Bok thus advances a middle path: procedures and norms that encourage transparency while preserving legitimate privacy, including mechanisms for accountability, whistleblower protections, and structured deliberation about secrecy claims.

Legacy and Relevance

Bok's analysis remains influential in contemporary discussions about privacy, whistleblowing, public policy, and professional ethics. Her insistence that secrecy be justified through reasons that could withstand public scrutiny has shaped debates about governmental transparency, media ethics, and institutional accountability. The concepts and practical tests she offers continue to guide those who must decide when concealment is defensible and when revelation is a moral imperative.