private sphere
One's own business
The private sphere is the domain of personal life—home, family, intimate relationships—as distinct from public or professional realms.
The concept implies a boundary protecting individual autonomy from government or social intrusion: What happens in the private sphere is none of the state's business.
Political theorists contrast it with the public sphere of civic participation and collective discourse.
- personal spaceComfort distance around oneself
- domesticityLife centered around home
- family homeResidence shared by kin
- intimacyEmotional closeness between people
- behind closed doorsIn private, unobserved
family · individuality · boundaries · inner sanctum · solitude · home · self-determination · secrecy · purdah · interiority · anonymity · seclusion · off the grid · privacy rights · household · data protection · personal values · introspection
- privacyprivacy, seclusion, confidentiality, solitude, privacy rights
- personal rightspersonal rights, privacy, reputation, human dignity, personal autonomy
- homehouse, home, apartment, condo, bathroom
- existenceexistence, being, lives, reality, life
- AristotleLyceum, Metaphysics, logic, ethics, telos
private spherepublic sphere
Realm of civic discourse
public domain · public life · public space · open forum · public square
private spherepublic domain
Unprotected creative works
common property · commons · public property · shared space · communal space
private spherecommunal life
Shared group dwelling arrangement
community · shared space · common good · commons · public interest