Habermas' dominance in salon historiography has come under criticism from some quarters, with Pekacz singling out Goodman's "Republic of Letters" for particular criticism because it was written with 'the explicit intention of supporting [Habermas'] thesis', rather than verifying it. The theory itself, meanwhile, has been criticized for a fatal misunderstanding of the nature of salons. The main criticism of Habermas' interpretation of the salons, however, is that the salons of most influence were not part of an oppositional public sphere, and were instead an extension of court society.