A Very Short Introduction - Habermas

Who is Jürgen Habermas? Jürgen Habermas is one of the most important and widely read social theorists in the post-Second World War era. His theoretical writings are influential in many different areas of the humanities and social sciences. Students of sociology, philosophy, politics, legal theory, cultural studies, English, German, and European studies will all undoubtedly come across his name at some time. There are several reasons why his work has such a wide influence. To begin with, Habermas is an interdisciplinary theorist. His range of reference is prodigious. He is the very opposite of what the sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920) called a ‘specialist without spirit’, that is the academic who never ventures beyond the narrow domain of his own expertise. Because his work transcends the disciplinary boundaries that most academics and students work within, most of his readers have only ever encountered one facet of his work. Furthermore, Habermas has been writing for nearly fifty years and has produced a huge amount of work. In addition to his profile as a social and political theorist, he is one of the foremost public intellectuals in Europe today. He is the doyen and inspiration of the democratic left in Germany and, in keeping with the tenets of his philosophy, makes frequent critical interventions – as a citizen, rather than as an academic – in the German and European public spheres on matters of general cultural, moral, and political concern. Contents Preface: Who is Jürgen Habermas? xi Abbreviations xxi List of illustrations xxiii 1 Habermas and Frankfurt School critical theory 1 2 Habermas’s new approach to social theory 16 3 The pragmatic meaning programme 28 4 The programme of social theory 47 5 Habermas’s theory of modernity 62 6 Discourse ethics I: the discourse theory of morality 76 7 Discourse ethics II: ethical discourse and the political turn 91 8 Politics, democracy, and law 106 9 Germany, Europe, and post-national citizenship 122 Appendix 139 Further reading 143 Index 153