Morality and Critical Theory: On the Normative Problem of Frankfurt School Social Criticism

Morality and Critical Theory: On the Normative Problem of Frankfurt School Social Criticism
James Gordon Finlayson

I. The Problem of Normative Foundations: Habermas's Original Criticism of Adorno and Horkheimer: In The Theory of Communicative Action, Jürgen Habermas writes:

From the beginning, critical theory labored over the difficulty of giving an account of its own normative foundations ...1

Call this Habermas's original objection to the problem of normative foundations. It has been hugely influential both in the interpretation and assessment of Frankfurt School critical theory and in the development of later variants of it. Nowadays it is a truth almost universally acknowledged that any critical social theory in possession of normative...

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Between deliberative and participatory democracy

"Deliberative democracy has assumed a central role in the debate about deepening democratic practices in complex contemporary societies. By acknowledging the citizens as the main actors in the political process, political deliberation entails a strong ideal of participation that has not, however, been properly clarified. The main purpose of this article is to discuss, through Jürgen Habermas’ analysis of modernity, reason and democracy, whether and to what extent deliberative democracy and participatory democracy are compatible and how they can, either separately or together, enhance democratic practices. Further exploration of this relationship will permit a better understanding of the possibilities and limits of institutionalizing both discourses, as well as of developing democracy in a more substantive dimension."

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Denise Vitale

'Between deliberative and participatory democracy: A contribution on Habermas'

Philosophy & Social Criticism, Vol. 32, No. 6, 739-766 (2006)