The philosophy of Jürgen Habermas: a critical introduction

A comprehensive and detailed analysis and sustained critique of Habermas' philosophical system since his pragmatist turn in the 70s. The study clearly and precisely depicts his long chain of arguments leading from analysis of speech acts to a discourse theory of law and the democratic constitutional state

A comprehensive and detailed analysis and sustained critique of Habermas' philosophical system since his pragmatist turn in the 70s. The study clearly and precisely depicts his long chain of arguments leading from analysis of speech acts to a discourse theory of law and the democratic constitutional state.

J--uuml--;rgen Habermas seeks to defend the Enlightenment and with it an --euml--;mphatical", --uuml--;ncurtailed¨conception of reason against the post-modern critique of reason on the one hand, and against so-called scientism (which would include critical rationalism and the greater part of analytical philosophy) on the other. His objection to the former is that it is self-contradictory and politically defeatist; his objection to the latter is that, thanks to a standard of rationalityderived from the natural sciences or from Weber's concept of purposive rationality, it leaves normative q