Intellectual History of the "Sphere of Intimacy" : before and after Arendt

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1) After Arendt
Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition (1958) is often cited as the first systematic introduction of the sphere of intimacy. For Arendt, intimacy belonged to the realm of necessity (life, reproduction, family) and was opposed to the public sphere (action, speech, politics). Later debates developed along two major directions:

• Feminist theory (1970s–): Thinkers such as Carole Pateman, Nancy Fraser, and Seyla Benhabib criticized Arendt’s scheme. They argued that the public/private divide is itself politically constructed and that the intimate sphere (family, care) is not “natural” but socially and politically produced.

• Ethics of care (1980s–): Carol Gilligan and Joan Tronto reinterpreted intimacy as the locus of care and demanded its public recognition, thus reversing Arendt’s “apolitical” definition.

• Sociology (1990s–): Anthony Giddens (The Transformation of Intimacy, 1992) described intimacy as a “pure relationship” tied to individual self-realization, shifting from Arendt’s “necessity” toward identity formation.

2) Before Arendt
Although Arendt coined the explicit phrase sphere of intimacy, she drew on a long genealogy of thought distinguishing family/private life from public/political life:

• Aristotle (Politics): distinction between oikos (household, necessity) and polis (public good).

• John Locke (Two Treatises of Government, 1689): separated paternal power (family) from political power (state).

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Social Contract, Émile, 1762): distinguished natural affection (family) from civic virtue (politics).

• Hegel (Philosophy of Right, 1821): conceptualized family as a sphere of love and intimacy, leading dialectically to civil society and the state.

• Tocqueville (Democracy in America, 1835–40): analyzed transformations of family and gender relations in democratic society.

Arendt thus redefined this tradition for the 20th century, providing the groundwork for later feminist, ethical, and sociological debates.

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Table: Intellectual Genealogy of the Sphere of Intimacy

Period	Thinker / Work	View on Intimacy or Private Sphere	Connection to Arendt
Antiquity	Aristotle, Politics	Oikos (household, necessity) vs. Polis (public good)	Origin of the necessity/publicity dichotomy
Early Modern	John Locke, Two Treatises (1689)	Family (paternal power) separated from political authority	Basis for family as non-political domain
Modern	Rousseau, Social Contract / Émile (1762)	Natural affection vs. civic virtue	Intimacy = natural, non-political sphere
Modern	Hegel, Philosophy of Right (1821)	Family = community of love and intimacy → civil society, state	Intimacy as a root communal element
Modern	Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835–40)	Family and gender under democracy	Intimacy shaped by political institutions
20th c.	Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (1958)	Sphere of intimacy = domain of necessity, opposed to the public	Critical redefinition of public/private
Postwar	Feminist theory (Pateman, Fraser, Benhabib)	Public/private divide as power-laden; intimacy as political	Critical continuation of Arendt
Postwar	Ethics of care (Gilligan, Tronto)	Intimacy as locus of care, deserving public recognition	Reversal of Arendt’s “apolitical” stance
Postwar	Sociology (Giddens, Transformation of Intimacy 1992)	Intimacy as “pure relationship,” identity formation	Intimacy as key to late modernity

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References

• Aristotle, Politics, esp. Book I–III.

• John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1689).

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Du contrat social (1762); Émile (1762).

• G. W. F. Hegel, Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts (1821).

• Alexis de Tocqueville, De la démocratie en Amérique (1835–40).

• Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (1958).

• Carole Pateman, The Sexual Contract (1988).

• Nancy Fraser, Unruly Practices (1989); Justice Interruptus (1997).

• Seyla Benhabib, Situating the Self (1992).

• Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice (1982).

• Joan Tronto, Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care (1993).

• Anthony Giddens, The Transformation of Intimacy (1992).

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The above is ChatGPT creation (20250826).

トクヴィル史観から内藤〔湖南〕史観へ／ From the Tocqueville view of history to the Naito view of history

　内藤湖南〔1866(慶応2)年‐1934(昭和9)年〕は、トクヴィル(Alexis de Tocqueville)〔1805(文化2)年‐1859(安政6)年〕が没して７年後に生まれています。強いて共通点がある様にも思えなかったのですが、彼等は人類史の modernity の特徴づけに関しては、ほぼ同様な歴史観を有していたようです。以下、アブダクション史学の一つの試みです。

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トクヴィルのパラドックス／ Tocquebille's paradox

　さきに書評（Ⅰ、Ⅱ）しました、宇野氏のトクヴィル本に、ネット万能の現代における、「トクヴィル的状況」という「デモクラシー」における逆説（パラドックス）が最後に再論されていました。ここでは、あえてこの現象を「トクヴィルのパラドックス／ Tocquebille's paradox」と名付けておきます。宇野氏の行論は以下です。

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デカルト読まずのデカルト知り／ Are Americans Cartesians?

　先の宇野重規氏のトクヴィル本から教えて頂いたことで最も面白かったのは、アメリカ人が、「デカルト読まずのデカルト知り」だというトクヴィルの指摘です。このエートスは福澤諭吉のそれとそっくりだと思ったわけです。トクヴィルは続けて、すべてを疑っていてはむしろ大海原に浮かぶ小舟のようになる（これは私流の言い換え）ので、むしろ信仰が必要だと論じました。これも晩年の福沢の帝室論／宗教論と通底する部分があります。

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明治十二年のトクヴィル

　本邦初訳のトクヴィル『アメリカのデモクラシー』は、明治十二年に出ています。

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トクヴィル余滴

　前回の投稿で、トクヴィルに改めて食指が動きました。

　ただ何分にも、邦訳４分冊という代物ですので、一気に読むと言う訳には参りません。ところどころ、『アメリカのデモクラシー』の世界をブラウジングしましたら、興味深い記述にぶつかりました。下記です。

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書評Ⅱ：宇野重規著『トクヴィル 平等と不平等の理論家』2019年5月講談社学術文庫

宇野重規著『トクヴィル　平等と不平等の理論』2019年5月講談社学術文庫

　この書評は、Ⅰ、Ⅱに分かれます。前者は私のレビュー。Ⅱは、目次および本書からの書抜き、抜粋で構成されています。内容を手早く知りたい方はⅡを先にお読みください。私のレビューに関心をお持ちいただけましたら、Ⅰにも眼を通して頂ければ幸甚です。

 

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