相較於公共生活，私人生活跟個體最切身，卻也最遙遠。我們理解公共生活的一切，遵守公共道德和秩序，參與公眾政治行動，以公共理性自持，卻漠然於私人活動的日常生活細節，個人身體表現、情感發展、親密關係維繫、家庭生活經營像是歷史舞臺的無聲劇碼，進行一場沒有觀眾的瘖啞演出。相較於以君主統治、典章制度、權力爭奪，以男性為公共舞臺要角的歷史書寫，個人的私己行動以至私密生活，只構成一樁乏人聞問的歷史秘辛。從歷史發展過程來看，私人性的隱晦，並非置身公共性陰影下所致，而在公私界線不分，至少在中世紀時期，就是個既非公共，也非私人的世界。許多日常生活私己行為都可現身於公眾場合，家庭內部也無私密空間。從家庭、社區到鄉鎮，構成往來公開，沒有秘密的空間，形成一個彼此相互瞭解，隨時看到他人生活的世界。隱私概念的形成，公共與私人領域的兩分，直到社會機能擴張，政經活動頻繁，人口密度增加，造成人際關係疏遠，人們不再相互熟識，工作、休閒和家庭生活變成相互獨立時開始。

讓淡去的私人面貌浮現，讓個體面對自身生活秘密的，正是法國當代著名史家阿利埃斯(Phillippe Aries)和杜比(Georges Duby)主編，被喻為史學界一項「革命性成果」的五卷本《私人生活史》。從古羅馬帝國、中世紀封建社會、文藝復興時期、法國大革命、一次大戰到二十世紀，在綿延兩千年的時間長流中試圖找出影響私人生活概念和面貌的種種變化。其間涉及人類物質和情感生活等面向的追索。私人史的用意如這套書分卷編者所說，不是寫群體史和家庭史，而是寫個人表現和情感的歷史，寫一部個人做事、生活、感受和愛的方式，心靈、肉體的原動力以及幻想和夢想的歷史。
　　《私人生活史》以微觀歷史的角度，讓我們看到私人性，以及凡夫俗子的日常瑣事與文明進展關係，私人未必無關歷史宏旨，它是一種讓我們進入不一樣歷史，重新認識自我的方法。本課程在上述概念下，試圖瞭解不同歷史階段私人領域與公共領域的分合關係；與私人相關的各種生活方式的構成和自我意識的改變；私人生活與文明進程的關係；隱私概念和私人性如何被建構出來；相對於公共性，私人性構作出什麼樣的現代性？透過這些問題理解私人生活史如何是一部個人身體、情感、交往、禮儀、家庭、工作、飲食、閱讀、休閒逸樂、日常事物所構作出的自身做為私己存在的歷史。

Compared with public life, private life is the most relevant to individuals, but also the most distant. We understand everything about public life, abide by public morality and order, participate in public political actions, and exercise public rationality. However, we are indifferent to the details of daily life in private activities. Personal physical expression, emotional development, intimacy maintenance, and family life management are like silent dramas on a historical stage, performing a mute performance without an audience. Compared with historical writing that focuses on monarchical rule, rules and regulations, and power struggles, with men as key players on the public stage, individuals' private actions and even private lives only constitute a historical secret that few people know about. Judging from the historical development process, the obscurity of privateness is not caused by being in the shadow of publicity. Rather, there is no distinction between public and private. At least in the medieval period, it was a world that was neither public nor private. Many private behaviors in daily life can be seen in public places, and there is no private space inside the family. From families, communities to towns and villages, it forms a space where communication is open and there are no secrets, forming a world where everyone understands each other and can see the lives of others at any time. The formation of the concept of privacy and the dichotomy of the public and private spheres began when social functions expanded, political and economic activities became frequent, and population density increased, resulting in alienation of interpersonal relationships. People no longer knew each other well, and work, leisure, and family life became independent of each other.

It is the five-volume "History of Private Life" edited by the famous contemporary French historians Phillippe Aries and Georges Duby that makes the faded private face emerge and allows individuals to face the secrets of their own lives. It is hailed as a "revolutionary achievement" in the field of history. From the ancient Roman Empire, medieval feudal society, the Renaissance, the French Revolution, World War I to the twentieth century, we try to find out the various changes that have affected the concept and appearance of private life in the two thousand years of time. It involves the pursuit of human material and emotional life. As the editor of this set of books said, the purpose of private history is not to write the history of groups and families, but to write the history of personal expressions and emotions, the way individuals do things, live, feel and love, the driving force of the mind and body, and the history of fantasies and dreams.
From a micro-historical perspective, "Private Life History" allows us to see privateness, as well as the relationship between ordinary people's daily trivial matters and the progress of civilization. Private life may not have nothing to do with the grand purpose of history. It is a way for us to enter a different history and re-understand ourselves. Based on the above concepts, this course attempts to understand the separation and integration relationship between the private and public spheres at different historical stages; the composition of various lifestyles related to the private and the changes in self-awareness; the relationship between private life and the process of civilization; how the concept of privacy and privateness are constructed; compared with publicity, what kind of modernity does privateity construct? Through these questions, we understand how the history of private life is a history of one's own private existence composed of one's body, emotions, interactions, etiquette, family, work, food, reading, leisure and entertainment, and daily things.

菲利普･阿里埃斯(Phillippe Ariès)、喬治･杜比(Georges Duby)主編，《私人生活史
　　卷三：激情—文藝復興》（哈爾濱：北方文藝出版社，2008）
菲利普･阿里埃斯(Phillippe Ariès)、喬治･杜比(Georges Duby)主編，《私人生活史
　　卷四：演員和舞臺—從大革命烽火到世界大戰》（哈爾濱：北方文藝出版社，　
　　2008）
菲利普･阿里埃斯(Phillippe Ariès)、喬治･杜比(Georges Duby)主編，《私人生活史
　　卷五：現代社會中的身份之謎》（哈爾濱：北方文藝出版社，2008）

Edited by Phillippe Ariès and Georges Duby, "History of Private Life
Volume 3: Passion - Renaissance" (Harbin: Northern Literature and Art Publishing House, 2008)
Edited by Phillippe Ariès and Georges Duby, "History of Private Life
Volume 4: Actors and Stage—From the Revolutionary War to the World War" (Harbin: Northern Literature and Art Publishing House,
　2008)
Edited by Phillippe Ariès and Georges Duby, "History of Private Life
Volume Five: The Mystery of Identity in Modern Society" (Harbin: Northern Literature and Art Publishing House, 2008)