Following the publishing of Habermas ’s classical Public Sphere book, the past decade has witnessed a rising discussion about this concept. Academic discourses, compounded by "real" socio-politico practices, have burdened this discussion with fatal challenges. Three of them are critically reviewed in this article. They are from some authors of feminism, neo-pragmatism of Rorty, and cultural studies. Feminist ’s criticism has centered on the "gender blindness" of Habermas ’s account of the public sphere. Rorty casts a light on the contribution of intellectuals to societal solidarity in the public sphere without pursuing the "Consensus". Media and Cultural studies argues for an emphasis on private domains which impinge on the mapping of the public sphere for ordinary people. While differing with each other in many respects, these three camps point to a significant direction of revisiting the public sphere concept, namely, to recast the dichotomy of public/private spheres and balance the "impracticability" of Habermas original account against the private sphere.
中文關鍵詞
公共領域，私人領域，共識，偏差，溝通理性，實踐論說
英文關鍵詞
the public sphere，the private sphere，consensus，differences，communicative rationality，practical discourse