Communicative Action Essays on Jürgen Habermas's The Theory of Communicative Action

Ernst Troeltsch Professor for the Sociology of Religion Hans Joas, Hans Joas, Axel Honneth, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Institut F Axel Honneth — 1991

These critical essays on Jurgen Habermas's major contribution to sociological theory, The Theory of Communicative Action, provide an indispensable guide for anyone trying to grasp that large, difficult, and important work. The editors' introduction traces the history of the reception of the work and identifies the main themes on which discussion has focused: a concept of communicative rationality; a theory of action based on distinguishing communicative from instrumental reason; a two-level concept of society that integrates lifeworld and system paradigms; and a critical theory of modernity meant to diagnose the sociopathologies of contemporary society. Axel Honneth is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Berlin. Hans Joas is Professor of Sociology at the Free University, Berlin. Contributors: Jeffrey Alexander. Johann P. Arnason. Johannes Berger. Gunter Dux. Jurgen Habermas. Hans Joas. Hans-Peter Kruger. Thomas McCarthy. Herbert Schnadelbach. Martin Seel. Charles Taylor.