The present work has emerged as the result of several years' involvementin various multidisciplinary research projects which have been carried out within the - search Programme in Biomedical Ethics at Uppsala University, now the Centre for Bioethics at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University. I am grateful to various colleagues who have taken part, whether brie?y or at length, in discussions of the concepts of privacy and integrity. Hearty thanks must go to Gert Helgesson, Ulrik von Essen, Par Segerdahland Richard Wessman who have read the initial version of the book and provideduseful comments. I am particularlyindebted to Par for taking the trouble to read the whole manuscript a second time. Arne Ohman and his - searchgroupatthe PsychologySectionin theDepartmentofClinical Neurosciences at Karolinska Institutet read an earlier version of Chapters 3 and 4. This provided a constructive and rewarding discussion which was of particular value to me since psychologydid not form part of my own professionaltraining. Sven Danielsson and the members of his research seminar in practical philosophy at Uppsala University read Chapters 5 and 6 and offered constructivecriticism.
Their critical views helped me to try to express more clearly the aim of these chapters within the framework of the book as a whole. All the readers of the book or parts of it can certainly have reason to wish for further revisions or indeed for a different presentation of the problem of understanding the role of the agent in the private sphere.