ABSTRACT
This chapter moves back and forth between individual and group private life. The tensions between public and private can be fully explicated only if the notion of exclusion from access is balanced by an inclusive element in private life. Privacy signals the clearest tension between public and private life. It makes two claims. First, though the private sphere is often defined by exclusion, private life also discloses an inclusive character, which gives purpose to private life, providing it with the impetus to break out of the closed world of the self. Moreover, the private world's inclusivity overlaps with the public sphere. Second, religion is the best indicator of the unity of the inclusive and exclusive sides of private life. Once private life becomes primary, individuals are tempted to allow collective life to be made; that is, administered by others, which places it in the realm of fabrication rather than action.
