Habermas turns 80 tomorrow!!

details here and here

Sentimentality, communicative action and the social self: Adam Smith meets Jürgen Habermas

Sentimentality, communicative action and the social self: Adam Smith meets Jürgen Habermas
David Wilson
Department of Economics, Finance and International Business, London Metropolitan University, 84 Moorgate, London EC2M 6SQ, UK, d.wilson@londonmet.ac.uk

William Dixon

Department of Economics, Finance and International Business, London Metropolitan University, 84 Moorgate, London EC2M 6SQ, UK

There is a long and tortuous history of misinterpreting Smithian social theory. After rehearsing that history we offer here a way of understanding Smith that, unlike much of recent revisionist Smith scholarship, does not further add to this confusion. Our proposal is to understand the relation between moral and economic behaviour in Smith as analogous to the way in which Habermas makes strategic (and normatively oriented) behaviour parasitic on a more basic communicative competence. Given this analogy, it is ironic that Habermas's own understanding of Smith's theory also leaves much to be desired.


Key Words: economics • Jürgen Habermas • morality • sentiment • Adam Smith



History of the Human Sciences, Vol. 22, No. 3, 75-99 (2009)

Towards Reconciling Two Heroes: Habermas and Hegel

Brandom's first major (?) piece on Habermas! Can be downloaded from here

Between Naturalism and Religion: Philosophical Essays

Between Naturalism and Religion: Philosophical Essays

Jürgen Habermas, Between Naturalism and Religion: Philosophical Essays, Ciaran Cronin (trans.), Polity Press, 2008, 361pp., $26.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780745638256.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Flynn, Fordham University

Habermas's central aim in this collection of essays is to articulate the appropriate relation between "postmetaphysical thinking" and science and religion. He takes up issues related to both the philosophical and the public use of reason, and makes interesting proposals regarding their interrelation. Habermas is clearly worried about the spread of naturalistic worldviews ("scientism") and religious fundamentalism, but he dismisses neither naturalism nor religion. Rather, he defends what he calls "soft naturalism," which embraces a non-reductionist account of human language and thought in which normativity and intersubjectivity are central. Regarding religion, Habermas maintains that philosophy has long been enriched by secular "translations" of religious ideas. Moreover, he views at least "modernized" religions as allies in the public sphere in combating the effects of uncontrolled capitalist modernization and the spread of reductionistic thinking.

full here

CFP reminder: Joint Society for European Philosophy and Forum for European Philosophy 2009

This is the third and final ‘call for papers’ for the 5th Annual Joint Conference of the Society for European Philosophy and the Forum for European Philosophy at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff; Wales, 27-29 August 2009.


Keynote speakers:

Rosi Braidotti (Utrecht)
Claire Colebrook (Penn State)
Leonard Lawlor (Penn State)
Christopher Norris (Cardiff)


The SEP-FEP Joint Conference offers faculty and graduate students the
opportunity to present papers in any area of European Philosophy.
Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be submitted by 1 June 2009 to
Juliana Cardinale, either in electronic form to J.Cardinale@lse.ac.uk or
by mail to:

Forum for European Philosophy
Room J5, European Institute
Cowdray House, Portugal Street
London School of Economics, London, WC2A 2AE United Kingdom


There are also two open plenary sessions:

1. The Future of Hermeneutics (Chair: Nicholas Davey, Dundee) and

2. The Role of Imagery in Ontology and Thought (Chair: Clive Cazeaux,
UWIC).

In addition, proposals relating to Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project are
especially welcome. Cardiff is a city of arcades. A work of sound art
based on Cardiff's arcades has been commissioned to accompany the
conference.

If you would be interested in participating in any of these, please
contact Clive Cazeaux by 1 June 2009 at ccazeaux@uwic.ac.uk


A prize of £250 will be awarded to the best graduate paper, as judged by
members of the SEP and FEP Committees. Graduates who would like their
papers considered for the prize should email their papers (maximum 3,000
words) as Word 2003 attachments to Clive Cazeaux at ccazeaux@uwic.ac.uk
by 3 August 2009.


Deadline summary:
Paper abstracts by 1 June 2009 to J.Cardinale@lse.ac.uk
Graduate papers in full by 3 August 2009 to ccazeaux@uwic.ac.uk

Further details, including registration and accommodation, are available
on the conference website here

New blog on Habermas and Rawls

A new exciting blog by Thomas Gregersen! According to Thomas it will bring news on the political thoughts of Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls.The blog will mainly have comments on new books and articles, and information about conferences and other events.

It will be written in both English and German.

See here

The blog will be a supplement to his Habermas website


Its Habermas bibliography and lists on secondary literature will still be updated regularly.

Habermas' acceptance speech for Brunet Prize for Human Rights 2008

Jürgen Habermas received the International Brunet Prize for Human Rights 2008 at a ceremony on May 9, 2009, in Pamplona, Spain.

Read Habermas's acceptance speech (in German) here

The link courtesy of Thomas

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...

full here

Bibliography of the secondary literature on Habermas

Articles and books on Jürgen Habermas 1992-2009


A bibliography of the secondary literature 1992-2009 on Jürgen Habermas is now available here



The link and info courtesy of Thomas Gregersen

Habermas's Political Thought 1984-1996: A Historical Interpretation

In the latest issue of the journal "Modern Intellectual History" (April 2009) Matthew Specter has written a very interesting article on Habermas' s recent political thought:

The article is available here free


The link and info courtesy of Thomas Gregersen

Discourse, Power, and Subjectivation

DISCOURSE, POWER, AND SUBJECTIVATION: THE FOUCAULT/HABERMAS DEBATE RECONSIDERED

AMY ALLEN

Clarifying the Foucault—Habermas debate

Clarifying the Foucault—Habermas debate
Morality, ethics, and `normative foundations'
Matthew King

Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada


Habermas charges that Foucault's work `cannot account for its normative foundations'. Responses to Habermas have consisted mostly of, on one hand, attempts to identify foundational normative assumptions implicit in Foucault's work, and, on the other hand, attempts to show that Foucault's work discredits the very idea of normative foundations. These attempts have suffered from a lack of clarity about Habermas' notion of normative foundations. In this article I clarify the terms of the debate by considering Habermas' critique of Foucault in light of his moral philosophy. I examine three representative responses to Habermas on Foucault's behalf, which attempt to identify normative foundations in Foucault's work, and I show why none of them meets Habermas' requirements. Finally, I argue that while Foucault's political judgments cannot have normative foundations, Foucault does adhere to the principles of Habermas' discourse ethics, and his doing so does not conflict with his genealogical approach.

Key Words: cryptonormativity • discourse ethics • Michel Foucault • foundations • Jürgen Habermas • truth

from here

Critique and Disclosure: Critical Theory between Past and Fut

Critique and Disclosure: Critical Theory between Past and Future
Nikolas Kompridis, Critique and Disclosure: Critical Theory between Past and Future, MIT Press, 2006, 333pp., $37.50 (hbk), ISBN 9780262112994.

Reviewed by Fred Dallmayr, University of Notre Dame
==

The fate of reason today hangs in the balance. This is no small matter. Ever since its historical beginnings, reason or rationality has been the central focus and point of honor of Western modernity -- a focus enshrined in Descartes' cogito, Enlightenment rationalism, and Kantian (and neo-Kantian) critical philosophy. The result of this focus was an asymmetrical dichotomy: separated from the external world of "matter" (or nature), the cogito assumed the role of superior task master and overseer -- a role fueling the enterprise of modern science and technology. During the past century, the edifice of Western modernity has registered a trembling, due to both internal and external contestations. Subverting the modern asymmetry, a host of thinkers – with views ranging from American pragmatism to European life philosophy and phenomenology -- have endeavored to restore pre-cognitive "experience" (including sense perception and affect) to its rightful place. In the context of French "postmodernism," a prominent battle cry has been to dislodge "logocentrism" (the latter term often equated with anthropocentrism). In the ambiance of recent German philosophy, the battle lines have been clearly marked: pitting champions of modern rationalism, represented by Jürgen Habermas, against defenders of experiential "world disclosure," represented by Martin Heidegger. In his book, Nikolas Kompridis endeavors to shed new light on this controversy, with the aim not so much of bringing about a cease fire but of providing resources for arriving at better mutual understanding.

Kompridis does not exactly assume a position above the contestants (he repeatedly rejects the "view from nowhere"). As the book's subtitle indicates, his point of departure is "critical theory" as championed by the Frankfurt School, and his attempt is to nudge that theory beyond a certain rationalist orthodoxy in the direction of possible "future" horizons. While appreciating some of its merits -- such as the "linguistic turn" and the emphasis on "communicative" rationality -- Kompridis finds Habermas's reformulation of the Frankfurt program on the whole unhelpful and debilitating. In his words (p. 17): "For all there is to recommend it, Habermas's reformulation has produced a split between new and old critical theory so deep that the identity and future of critical theory are at risk." The main reason is that the "normative gain" deriving from the linguistic turn remains attached to narrow rationalist premises that have "needlessly devalued" the theory's potential. In Kompridis's view, Habermas's evolving thought exhibits a break or rupture (quite apart from the linguistic turn): namely, a move toward pure "theory" which happened soon after the publication of Knowledge and Human Interests. "That turn to theory," he writes (pp. 232-234), "refashioned the project of critical theory as a strenge Wissenschaft, less bound by or beholden to the historical and existential exigencies of modernity" -- thereby undermining modernity's intrinsic "relation to time." As a result of this refashioning, critical theory was catapulted in the direction of an abstractly rational universalism disdainful of cultural and practical modes of pluralism. The upshot was a growing "insensitivity to particularity," justifying the suspicion that the basic concepts of communicative rationality had from the start been "rigged in favor of the universal." But, the book adds sharply, "a provinciality-destroying reason is a meaning-destroying reason" and the latter is "a history-destroying reason."

Full here

Gordon Finlayson's Website and Blog

Here

:: Selection of Habermas’ works in 5 volumes

In June 2009 Suhrkamp Verlag will celebrate Jürgen Habermas’s 80th birthday by publishing a selection of Habermas’ works in 5 volumes – Philosophische Texte: Studienausgabe in fünf Bänden. Each volume will have a new introduction by Jürgen Habermas.

The 5 volumes are:
1. Sprachtheoretische Grundlegung der Soziologie
2. Diskurs- und Sprachtheorie
3. Diskursethik
4. Politische Theorie
5. Kritik der Vernunft

Suhrkamp Verlag:
”Am 18. Juni 2009 feiert der Philosoph und Soziologe Jürgen Habermas seinen 80. Geburtstag. Zu diesem Anlaß hat er eine systematische Auswahl von wichtigen Texten zusammengestellt, einige davon bislang unveröffentlicht, die den philosophischen Kern seines umfangreichen Werks freilegen. Jürgen Habermas hat zu jedem Band eine ausführliche Einleitung verfaßt, in der er die Grundzüge und Motive seines philosophischen Denkens zu Themen wie Sprache und Wahrheit, Vernunft und Moral, Recht und Demokratie umreißt, wie sie sich in Auseinandersetzung mit den Einzelwissenschaften herausgebildet haben. Die Bände, die auch einzeln erhältlich sind, können somit an die Stelle ungeschriebener philosophischer Monographien treten und bieten einen umfassenden Einblick in ein Denken, das die Geistesgeschichte der Gegenwart wie kaum ein zweites geprägt hat.”

1. Sprachtheoretische Grundlegung der Soziologie

Vorwort
Einleitung
1. Vorlesungen zu einer sprachtheoretischen Grundlegung der Soziologie
2. Erläuterungen zum Begriff des kommunikativen Handelns
3. Handlungen, Sprechakte, sprachlich vermittelte Interaktionen und Lebenswelt
4. Individuierung durch Vergesellschaftung. Zu G.H. Meads Theorie der Subjektivität
5. Aspekte der Handlungsrationalität
6. Rekonstruktive vs. verstehende Sozialwissenschaften
7. Konzeptionen der Moderne. Ein Rückblick auf zwei Traditionen

2. Diskurs- und Sprachtheorie

Vorwort
Einleitung
1. Hermeneutische und analytische Philosophie. Zwei komplementäre Spielarten der linguistischen Wende
2. Zur Kritik der Bedeutungstheorie
3. Rationalität und Verständigung. Sprechakttheoretische Erläuterungen zum Begriff der kommunikativen Rationalität
4. Kommunikatives Handeln und detranszendentalisierte Vernunft
5. Wahrheitstheorien
6. Wahrheit und Rechtfertigung. Zu Richard Rortys pragmatischer Wende
7. Realismus nach der sprachpragmatischen Wende

3. Diskursethik

Vorwort
Einleitung
1. Diskursethik – Notizen zu einem Begründungsprogramm
2. Diskursethik und Gesellschaftstheorie. Ein Interview mit T. Hviid Nielsen
3. Erläuterungen zur Diskursethik
4. Eine genealogische Betrachtung zum kognitiven Gehalt der Moral
5. Vom praktischen, ethischen und moralischen Gebrauch der praktischen Vernunft
6. Richtigkeit und Wahrheit. Zum Sinn der Sollgeltung moralischer Urteile und Normen
7. Zur Architektonik der Diskursdifferenzierung. Kleine Replik auf eine große Auseinandersetzung)

4. Politische Theorie

Vorwort
Einleitung
1. Volkssouveränität als Verfahren
2. Drei normative Modelle der Demokratie
3. Hat die Demokratie noch eine epistemische Dimension? Empirische Forschung und normative Theorie
4. Über den internen Zusammenhang von Rechtsstaat und Demokratie
5. Der demokratische Rechtsstaat – eine paradoxe Verbindung widersprüchlicher Prinzipien?
6. Vorpolitische Grundlagen des demokratischen Rechtsstaates?
7. Kulturelle Gleichbehandlung – und die Grenzen des Postmodernen Liberalismus
8. Zur Legitimation durch Menschenrechte
9. Hat die Konstitutionalisierung des Völkerrechts noch eine Chance?
10. Konstitutionalisierung des Völkerrechts und die Legitimationsprobleme einer verfaßten Weltgesellschaft
5. Kritik der Vernunft

5. Kritik der Vernunft

Vorwort
Einleitung
1. Die Philosophie als Platzhalter und Interpret
2. Was Theorien leisten können – und was nicht. Ein Interview
3. Noch einmal: Zum Verhältnis von Theorie und Praxis)
4. Metaphysik nach Kant
5. Motive nachmetaphysischen Denkens
6. Die Einheit der Vernunft in der Vielfalt ihrer Stimmen
7. Von den Weltbildern zur Lebenswelt
8. Das Sprachspiel verantwortlicher Urheberschaft und das Problem der Willensfreiheit: Wie läßt sich der epistemische Dualismus mit einem ontologischen Monismus versöhnen?
9. Die Revitalisierung der Weltreligionen - Herausforderung für ein säkulares Selbstverständnis der Moderne ?
10. Ein Bewußtsein von dem, was fehlt
11. Exkurs: Transzendenz von innen, Transzendenz ins Diesseits
12. Glauben und Wissen. Replik auf Einwände

Link courtesy Thomas Gregersen

Life after Bankruptcy

The interview in "Die Zeit" on the financial crisis is now available in an English translation:

Life after Bankruptcy

original German here


Link courtesy of Thomas Gregersen

Habermas on foreclosure gloom

Die Zeit 06.11.2008

"I hope that the neoliberal agenda will no longer be taken at face value, but will put up for negotiation. The entire programme of uncontrolled subjugation of everyday life to the imperatives of the market must be put to trial," says philosopher Jürgen Habermas in a lengthy conversation with Thomas Assheuer. Habermas watched the impact of the financial crisis with his own eyes, as a guest lecturer in the USA. "The screens flickered with the Hopperesque melancholy of an endless loop of abandoned houses in Florida and elsewhere – with "Foreclosure" signs on the front lawns. Then came the buses full of prospective buyers from Europe and Latin America followed by estate agents who gave guided tours of bedrooms ransacked in fits of anger and desperation. After my return I was surprised at the difference between US jumpiness and the business-as-usual equanimity here in Germany."

from here

The original interview here

The Future(s) of Critical Theory

The Future(s) of Critical Theory
Erste Graduiertenkonferenz, Frankfurt am Main, 19.-21.März 2009

Call for Papers

Kritische Theorie muss mit kleinem "k" geschrieben werden. Nicht nur
deshalb, weil die Ansätze, die sich heute in der Tradition der so
genannten "Frankfurter Schule" sehen, so divers geworden sind, dass es
fragwürdig erscheint, noch von einem einzigen einheitlichen Ansatz zu
sprechen, auch aus inhaltlichen Gründen verbietet sich die Reduzierung
kritischen Denkens auf ein akademisches "Lager". Viel eher als ein
einheitliches philosophisches Denkgebäude bezeichnet der Begriff
"kritische Theorie" unterschiedliche Formen der radikalen
Infragestellung, die bis heute in den geistes- und
gesellschaftswissenschaftlichen Disziplinen, aber auch in den Debatten
um eine emanzipatorische politische Praxis höchst lebendig geblieben
sind. Wie sich an der Vielzahl aktueller Publikationen zum Thema ablesen
lässt, wird gegenwärtig jedoch auch eine rege Diskussion darüber
geführt, was überhaupt noch ein angemessener Begriff von Kritik und
kritischer Theorie sein kann. Dies mag man als Ausdruck einer Krise und
Orientierungslosigkeit der kritischen Theorie sehen, vielleicht aber
auch als Chance für eine erneute Lagebestimmung und als eine
Aufforderung zur Reflexion.

Die Graduiertenkonferenz, die im nächsten Jahr erstmalig stattfinden
wird, will dazu einen Beitrag leisten. Sie bietet Doktorand/innen und
Postdoktorand/innen aus Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften die
Gelegenheit, eigene Forschungsprojekte zu diskutieren und sich mit den
Herausforderungen der kritischen Theorie auseinanderzusetzen. Weil sich
erst am Gegenstand erweisen kann, was kritische Theorie ist, sind dabei
einzelwissenschaftliche Studien ebenso willkommen wie metatheoretische
Überlegungen. Wir laden ausdrücklich auch ein zur Einsendung von
work-in-progress, exposéhaften Präsentationen oder in Kooperation
entstandenen Arbeiten.

Eingereicht werden können Abstracts für Vorträge zu folgenden (oder
anderen) Themen:

__Was ist Kritik? Was ist kritisch an der kritischen Theorie? Wie
kritisch ist die kritische Theorie?
__K/kritische Theorie(n): 1, 2, 3,... ganz viele Generationen;
Anerkennung, Rechtfertigung und Verständigung; kritische Theorie und
Poststrukturalismus; Kritik, Geneaologie, Dekonstruktion; Kantianismus,
Hegelianismus, Nietzscheanismus; Postcolonial Studies, Feminismus und queer
__Kritik mit Methode: Theorie und Empirie; Philosophie und Soziologie;
Erkenntnis und Interesse; militante Untersuchung
__Kritik und das Gute Leben: Begehren, Liebe, Intimität, Affekte, "das
Private" und natürlich Freundschaft
__Kritische Theorie und Kritik der Politik: Demokratie, Sozialismus,
Liberalismus; Macht und/oder Herrschaft; Recht, Staat, Polizei und
Souveränität
__Versöhnung mit dem Kapitalismus? (Ir)rationalität, Entfremdung und
Verdinglichung; alter und neuer Geist des Kapitalismus; Umverteilung
oder Enteignung; Reform oder Revolution
__Die Kultur der Kritik: Sub-, Pop- und Mainstreamkultur(industrie);
Kultur- und Medientheorie; Hegemonie und Diskurs; Narratologie,
Semiotik, Rhetorik

Technics

Abstracts sollten die Länge von 300 Wörtern nicht überschreiten.
Deadline ist der 31. November 2008. Die Auswahl der Beiträge erfolgt bis
spätestens 1.1.2009. Eine Publikation ausgewählter Beiträge nach der
Konferenz wird angestrebt. Die Vorträge werden in einem blind review
ausgewählt, allerdings wird bei der endgültigen Auswahl darauf geachtet,
dass mindestens 50 % der Vorträge an Frauen vergeben werden. Bitte die
Abstracts ohne Name oder sonstige Hinweise auf die Autorin/den Autor
einreichen sowie im Anschreiben Titel des eingereichten Vorschlags
nennen. Konferenzsprachen sind Deutsch und Englisch, Abstracts können in
beiden Sprachen eingereicht werden. Die Vorträge sollen eine Länge von
ca. 20 Minuten haben.

Keynote

Keynote Speaker der Konferenz sind Bonnie Honig (Chicago), Axel Honneth
(Frankfurt) und Emmanuel Renault (Paris/Lyon).

Kontakt

Abstracts können per E-Mail eingereicht werden an
info@graduateconferencefrankfurt.de

Nähere Information: www.graduateconferencefrankfurt.de

_____________________

The Future(s) of Critical Theory
First Graduate Conference in Frankfurt am Main, 19.-21 March 2009

Call for Papers

Whether or not "critical theory" constitutes a well-defined, easily
identifiable and self-contained school of thought has been a matter of
debate. For the organizers of this conference, given the plurality of
theoretical projects that consider themselves in the tradition of the
"Frankfurt School," critical thinking cannot be reduced to one academic
'camp' in any meaningful way. Rather than representing one coherent
philosophical paradigm, 'critical theory' embodies a diverse set of
practices of radical questioning exercised in various discourses
including that of arts, social and political sciences as well as radical
political debate. Moreover critical theory is a highly self-reflexive
process. Thus, rather than being a sign of crisis or lack of
orientation, the increasing number of publications about the meaning and
significance of "critique" and "critical theory" in recent years point
to a vibrant and diverse intellectual community constituted around
similar theoretical and political commitments. The existence of
different theoretical positions and disagreements within that community
can be best interpreted as an invitation to reconsider one's own stance
in relation to other ways of critical thinking and to reflect on common
grounds.

"The Future(s) of Critical Theory" Graduate Conference in Frankfurt aims
to serve as a forum for this ongoing debate. We invite PhD students and
postdocs from the humanities and the social sciences to discuss their
work in relation to the challenges posed by the current debates on the
status of critical theory today. Critical theory proves itself only in
relation to its concrete object of investigation. We are therefore
equally looking forward to the presentation of empirical research as to
theoretical reflections.

Contributions may include -- but need not be limited to -- the following
themes:

__What is Critique? What makes critical theories critical? How critical
is Critical Theory?

__C/critical Theory(ies): 1,2,3...many Generations of critical
theory(ies); Critical Theory and Post/structuralism; Critique,
Genealogy, Deconstruction; Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche; Postcolonial Studies,
Feminism, queer.

__Methodologies of critique: Theory and Practice; Philosophy and
Sociology; Knowledge and Human Interest; Militant Investigation,
Collective Theorization.

__Critique and the Good Life: Desire, Love, Intimacy, Affect, 'The
Private' and of course Friendship.

__Critical Theory, The Political and Politics: Democracies, Socialisms,
Liberalisms; Power and/or Domination; Law, State, Police and Sovereignty.

__Theorizing Capitalism: (Ir)rationality, Alienation and Reification;
Old and New Spirit of Capitalism; Redistribution or Expropriation;
Reform or Revolution.

__Cultures of Critique: Sub-, Pop- and Mainstream- Culture (industries);
Media and Cultural Studies; Hegemony and Discourse; Narratology,
Semiotics and Rhetoric.


Submission Information

Please submit abstracts of a maximum of 300 words to the following
e-mail address: info@graduateconferencefrankfurt.de
. We accept proposals until
the 31. November 2008. Languages of the conference will be German and
English, abstracts can be submitted in either language. Papers presented
at the conference should not exceed the duration of twenty minutes and
will be followed by a brief discussion.
Papers will be selected through a blind review process therefore please
do not mark your name or other indications of the author on abstracts
and make sure to clearly state the title of your proposal in the email.
Candidates will be informed by January 1st whether their paper has been
accepted for presentation.

The publication of a selection of conference papers is intended.

Keynote speakers

Keynote speakers are Bonnie Honig (Chicago), Axel Honneth (Frankfurt)
and Emmanuel Renault (Paris/Lyon).

Contact

For further information see www.graduateconferencefrankfurt.de
.

Habermas' Method: Rational Reconstruction

Habermas' Method: Rational Reconstruction
Jørgen Pedersen

University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Given the prominent position Habermas' philosophy has gained, it is surprising that his method, rational reconstruction, has not caused more debate. This article clarifies what this method consists of, and shows how it is used in two of Habermas' research programs. The method is an interesting, but problematic way of confronting some of the basic epistemological questions in the social sciences. It represents an alternative to both the empirical-analytical and the hermeneutic tradition. On the basis of this methodology, Habermas' work is situated between the transcendental and the empirical approach. A fundamental problem is that it remains unclear how to test the hypothesis put forward through rational reconstruction.

Key Words: Philosophical method • rational reconstruction • critical theory • formal pragmatics • development theory • Jürgen Habermas

from here

Communicative Reason and Intercultural Understanding

Communicative Reason and Intercultural Understanding
A Critical Discussion of Habermas
Mihaela Czobor-Lupp

Georgetown University, mihaelaclupp@aol.com

Although Habermas sees intercultural understanding as a political task, his model of communicative rationality cannot satisfactorily explain how this could happen. One reason is the definition of the aesthetic, form-giving, moment of imagination, which reflects deeper epistemological and linguistic assumptions of discourse ethics. Despite sporadic attempts to recognize the role of rhetoric and poetry as an indispensable part of the communicative praxis, at the end of the day, Habermas sees language as fundamentally geared toward transparency and clarity, and not as endowed with poetic power and polyphonic creativity. My article aims to further develop, with the help of Vico and Bakhtin, the incipient thread in Habermas's discourse ethics that recognizes the importance of linguistic creativity and of imagination in communicative practice. This would help one to argue that, even when rational consensus and agreement cannot be achieved, dialogue is still not abandoned. This is the case because, through a larger definition of the dialogical, which adds to the discursive aspect, an aesthetic, rhetorical, and metaphorical dimension, it is possible to say that, even when conflicting, different voices and languages are still creatively and imaginatively interilluminating and hybridizing each other. Thus, they still transform each other, creating, at the same time, a prediscursive commonality, that can function as a necessary prerequisite for intercultural understanding.

Key Words: aesthetics • Bakhtin • discourse ethics • Habermas • imagination • intercultural understanding • Vico

here

Redeeming Labor: Making Explicit the Virtue Theory in Habermas's Discourse Ethics

Redeeming Labor: Making Explicit the Virtue Theory in Habermas's Discourse Ethics
Leland L. Glenna

The Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, USA, llg13@psu.edu

The assertion that neo-classical economics is value-neutral is not just problematic because it is false, but also because it masks the origins of neo-classical economics as a moral science that has had a normative influence on social interaction. However, critics need to move beyond merely exposing the value-laden nature of neo-classical economics if the social sciences are to counter the emotivism of neo-classical economics and to reclaim their foundation as the moral sciences. A social theory of action is needed that acknowledges people's capacity to act virtuously. As a product of the German Enlightenment Tradition, Habermas relies upon an implicit Lutheran neighbor-love ethic when he constructs his theory of communicative action and discourse ethics. A theory that recognizes the capacity of people to collectively generate virtues which then govern their actions offers the potential to redeem labor from emotivism.

Key Words: discourse ethics • emotivism • neo-classical economics • virtue theory

from here

Who are the citizens of Europe?

Europe needs a binding moral foundation not a pan-European referendum, argues Alfred Grosser

The Irish referendum raises many questions. Now I don't mean the ones concerning the circumstances of the 'No' vote. Questions such as: Was the economy slowing down instead of thriving on EU assistance as it had been until recently? Or: Was the advertising for the 'No' campaign funded by conservative anti-European Americans of Irish descent? No, the issues I want to discuss are commentaries which say: This is what happens when you disregard the people and submit a treaty which has been drawn up undemocratically and is incomprehensible to boot! Philosopher Jürgen Habermas also recently expressed his doubts about democratic practice in the EU. He suggested combining next year's European elections with a European referendum.

full here

Emancipation or accommodation?: Habermasian vs. Rawlsian deliberative democracy

Emancipation or accommodation?
Habermasian vs. Rawlsian deliberative democracy
Christian F. Rostbøll
University of Copenhagen, Denmark

The development of the theory of deliberative democracy has culminated in a synthesis between Rawlsian political liberalism and Habermasian critical theory. Taking the perspective of conceptions of freedom, this article argues that this synthesis is unfortunate and obscures some important differences between the two traditions. In particular, the idea of internal autonomy, which was an important, implicit idea in the ideology critique of the earlier Habermas, falls out of view. There is no room for this dimension of freedom in political liberalism and it has largely disappeared from the later Habermas. In so far as others have followed Rawls and Habermas, deliberative democratic theory has converged around a less critical and more accommodationist view of freedom. If we want to keep deliberative democracy as a critical theory of contemporary society, we should resist this convergence. Our starting point should not be `the fact of reasonable pluralism' but rather `the fact of unreflective acquiescence'. This article argues for incorporating internal autonomy in a complex theory of freedom to which deliberative democracy should be normatively committed.


Key Words: autonomy • deliberative democracy • freedom • Jürgen Habermas • ideology critique • John Rawls


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European prize goes to philosopher Habermas

The European Prize of Political Culture has been awarded to the German philosopher and sociologist Jürgen Habermas at the Locarno Film Festival.


Habermas' theories have greatly contributed to the evolution of modern social sciences, the Hans Ringier Foundation, patrons of the €50,000 prize said.

The philosopher, born in 1929, is best known for his work on the concept of the public sphere, the topic and title of his first book.

Last year the prize went to Serbian president Boris Tadic; Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister received the honour in 2006. The prize is in its third year.

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H/T Continental Philosophy

Ohne Muslime kein Europa

"Arno Widmann witnessed a memorable meeting at Schloss Elmau, between Tariq Ramadan, the controversial voice of European Muslims, and Jürgen Habermas, the "leading theorist of the new world confusion." Extremely impressed by Ramadan, Widmann was inspired to consider whether German Jews were not the first Germans. "Most Germans saw themselves as Hesseners, Frankfurters, Bavarians, Pfalzians rather than Germans. The Jews were not given the opportunity to see themselves as Bavarians. They wanted to be Germans. Perhaps Europe is in a similar situation today. The Irish are first and foremost Irish, the Danish are Danish, the Germans Germans and the Belgians are primarily Flemish or Walloon. Immigrants who are prevented from becoming Irish, Danes and Germans but who are called upon to be more European that Europeans ever were, have no option other than to become Europeans. They will be the first true Europeans. No Europe without Muslims."

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