Differentiation of Public and Private Space

One important concept I found from this chapter talks about the differentiation of public and private space. Public discourse ethics protects and promotes a place of coversation for diversity of ideas and persons (100). While the good of the "public arena" is imperative in keeping a vibrant communicative public and private life (99), we have to have a grasp on the information we choose to share as to not confuse our public and private communicative spaces.

In an example from the book, websites such as Facebook provide an arena for public decision making, engaging all types of voices, ideas, and opinions (101). In this sense, we have to be selective on the kind of information we choose to share in this arena, because in an age where we're willing to share so much information with the public, our private lives (whether we realize it or not) will tend to become non-existent, as the line between public and private becomes blurred (101).

The book states the importance of taking accountability for establishing an identity between public and private space. One example I believe illustrates this is the issue of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport of boxing. Whilst this may be a rather subjective (and perhaps odd) analysis on my part, I think it'll be easy to understand. Floyd Mayweather Jr., who has since retired from boxing after defeating Andre Berto this past September, has been an advocate of random blood and urine testing for boxers since 2010, one year after rival fighter Manny Pacquiao rose to boxing superstardom with knockout victories over Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. Before these aforementioned Pacquiao victories, Mayweather had never been an advocate of random testing, but since Pacquiao's ascension through multiple weight classes, and being mentioned in a possible fight with Mayweather, Mayweather had been vehement about Pacquiao being a steroid user, when he in fact did not have any proof that Pacquiao was cheating. Pacquiao had never failed any prior drug tests, while there have been several published reports that Mayweather himself had had test results that may have indicated specific PED use, or the presence of substances that could be used to mask PED use. While surely Mayweather had these thoughts in the privacy of his own circle, the fact that he brought them into the arena of the boxing public clearly shows the blurred line of his public and private space. Adding to that, he has recorded video of himself in the privacy of his home attacking Pacquiao's character, and posting it to social media, further blurring the line between his public and private spaces.