ИСТИНА

There are many ways to define the distinction between the public and the private. These approaches can be divided into two groups. The first group includes the ways of describing “public” as a special space of free polemic, in which people can have a political position and an opportunity to defend it. The first group includes the classical theories of “public” (die Öffentlichkeit) by J. Habermas and “public space” by H. Arendt. What these positions have in common is that publicity is understood as a space, access to which is a blessing, since it is associated with the implementation of positive freedom, which is impossible outside this space. This similarity allows us to attribute these theories to one group. The second group includes the approaches according to which publicity is interpreted as a special property of social action. The research emphasis is shifting from public space as a phenomenon located at the macrolevel of sociological research, to the behavior of individuals who are in public and are aware of it, therefore to the microlevel. This group includes the theoretical developments of E. Goffman, R. Sennett and, to some extent, A. Giddens. Recognizing the heuristic capabilities of both groups of approaches, we designate as a productive tension leading to a constant revision of the boundaries of the public and the private, on the one hand, the individual's ability to determine the front and back plans of interaction and accordingly adjust his / her behavior. On the other hand, some established state of affairs, prescribing which social groups can be admitted to public space, and which cannot be admitted, which topics can be communicated publicly, and which should be “closed” in private space.