Editor between law and conscience

Abstract

In the commonly adopted approach, an editor is supposed to be a professional who provides texts to the reading audience. However, in the case of personal texts (letters and diaries) they face problems of ethical nature: whether to ignore the nature of those texts, which were clearly written without the intention of publicizing them, or even marked with an objection to do so? Where to find the line between the duty to reveal, and simple loyalty to the authors of a letter or an intimate diary? What to do with texts written in a state of mental or neurological illness?

            The article presents discussions on the topic from recent years, making a distinction into intimistic works which were written for literary purposes and the ones which have the status of daily literary practice. In the latter case, the author analyzes arguments for and against publishing them, believing that the legal norms must not be sufficient, and that an editor must take into account also less unambiguous recommendations of his or her conscience, which means the ability to distinguish between good and evil and respect individual dignity and one’s right to privacy.