Habermas: A Critical Reader

Comprised of classic and newly–commissioned papers from leading theorists, this volume provides a wide–ranging critical introduction to the thought of Jürgen Habermas. Some contributions explore the relation between Habermas′s philosophy and the thought of major predecessors, including Kant, Hegel, Marx and Heidegger. Others elucidate the political context of Habermas′s thinking, while a final section presents the responses of leading German contemporaries to his work. The result is a more rounded picture of Habermas′s oeuvre and achievement than has previously been available. Habermas emerges as a thinker whose outstanding powers of renewal and innovation are inseparable from his engagement with the major traditions of European thought, and his own intellectual and political context.

Introduction: History and the Trace of Reason: Habermas′s Philosophy and its Context: Peter Dews (University of Essex). Part I: Traditions: . 1. Habermas and Kant: Judgement and Communicative Experience: Stale Finke (University of Oslo – original contribution). 2. Does Hegel′s Critique of Kant Apply to Discourse Ethics? Gordon Finlayson (University of York – original contribution). 3. Habermas, Marxism and Social Theory: The Case for Pluralism in Critical Social Science: James Bohmann (Washington University, Saint Louis – original contribution). 4. Models of Intersubjectivity: Habermas, Mead and Lacan: Peter Dews (University of Essex). 5. Heidegger′s Challenge and the Future of Critical Theory: Nikolas Kompridis (Wilfrid Laurier University – original contribution). Part II: Contexts: . 6. Between Radicalism and Resignation: Democratic Theory in Habermas′s Between Facts and Norms: Bill Scheuerman (University of Pittsburgh – original contribution). 7. Habermas, Feminism and the Question of Autonomy: Maeve Cooke (University College Dublin – original contribution). 8. Jürgen Habermas and the Antinomies of the Intellectual: Max Pensky (University of Binghampton – original contribution). Part III: Critiques: . 9. Society and History: Towards a Critique of Critical Theory: Michael Theunissen (Free University, Berlin). 10. What is Metaphysics – What is Modernity? Twelve Theses against Jürgen Habermas: Dieter Henrich (University of Munich). 11. The Social Dynamics of Disrespect: Axel Honneth (University of Frankfurt).

Peter Dews is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Essex. He is the author of The Limits of Disenchantment (1995) and Logics of Disintegration (1987), and the editor of Deconstructive Subjectivities (with Simon Critchley, 1996), and Autonomy and Solidarity: Interviews with Jurgen Habermas (1986, rev. edn 1992).

"A fine introduction to the range and influence of Habermas′s work." Ethical Perspectives