Jürgen Habermas
Communication and the Evolution of Society

Introduction

Jürgen Habermas is the primary figure in the latter phase of the Frankfurt School, and its critical theory of society. His concept of Universal Pragmatics and studies of legitimation problems in society are key to understanding the background of recent debates in the philosophy of communication.

Sections of this Guide

1. Overview
2. Readings
3. Universal Pragmatics
4. Legitimation
5. Bibliography

Overview

• Jürgen Habermas (1929 - ) German philosopher and sociologist.
• Key figure in the second generation of the Frankfurt School.
• One of the few thinkers still seeking to develop the descended Marxist tradition.
• Problematically construed by many to be the defender of Modernism against the Postmodern movement. "The dominant image of Habermas into the 1980s is the Voice of Reason, a Teutonic opponent of Foucault and Lyotard." (Roberts, p. 41)

Readings

• What is Universal Pragmatics (pp.1-68)
• Legitimation Problems in the Modern State (pp.178-206)

Universal Pragmatics

• In the course of his many books, Habermas develops a theory of communication which is here called Universal Pragmatics and later termed the Theory of Communicative Action.
• The research agenda of Universal Pragmatics is meant to reconstruct the basis on which any and all utterances are to be considered valid. Every utterance can be examined and categorized as true or untrue (in the sense of "the Representation of Facts of the World of External Nature"), justified or unjustified (in the social world), and truthful or untruthful (in the personal "World of Internal Nature").
• The point is that claims of validity must be cast in terms of nature, society, and the individual.
• This framework for assessing the validity of claims feeds his subsequent project of developing a morality based on discourse and consensus in society.

Legitimation

• Legitimation for Habermas is assessing the rightness and justice of a political order. "Only political orders can have and lose legitimacy; only they need legitimation. Multinational coporations or the world market are not capable of legitimation." (p. 179)
• The concept of legitimation is important in Habermas' critique of capitalism, and mass democracies in particular. If mass democracies cannot demonstrate that they are benefiting the social welfare and effectively addressing the dysfunctional aspects which arise because of the process of capitalism, then they cannot calaim legitimacy.
• Legitimation is attained through discussion and consensus in society. This communication-based consensus takes the place (to some degree) of the teleological role of the workers paradise in traditional Marxism. This is why a model for understanding validation of discussion is so important for Habermas.
• In Habermas' overall project of reconstructing Marxism, delegitimation is a key issue that characterizes the crises that capitalism encounters, and is why it fails.

Questions

• Lyotard criticized Habermas for his belief in communal consensus as a social teleology, saying "...consensus is only a particular state of discussion, not its end." (Lyotard, p.65) Habermas is now frequently seen as one of the old guard, defending the project of Modernism by means of its grand narratives. It seems difficult to accept his core premises in light of Postmodernist thinking. If Habermas were right, what would it mean for us today?
• To what extent is Habermas foundational in his thinking?

Bibliography

Lyotard, Jean-François.  The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge.  Minneapolis:
   University of Minnesota Press, 1984.

Outhwaite, William.  Habermas: A Critical Introduction.  Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994.

Roberts, David. (Ed.)  Reconstructing Theory: Gadamer, Habermas, Luhman.  Victoria, 
   Australia: Melbourne University Press, 1995.

White, Stephen K. (Ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Habermas.  Cambridge University
   Press, 1995.