The Theory of Communicative Action

Here, for the first time in English, is volume one of JurgenHabermas's long-awaited magnum opus: The Theory of CommunicativeAction. This pathbreaking work is guided by three interrelatedconcerns: (1) to develop a concept of communicative rationalitythat is no longer tied to the subjective and individualisticpremises of modern social and political theory; (2) to construct atwo-level concept of society that integrates the 'lifeworld' and'system' paradigms; and (3) to sketch out a critical theory ofmodernity that explains its sociopathologies in a new way. Habermas approaches these tasks through a combination ofconceptual analyses, systematic reflections, and criticalreconstructions of such predecessors as Marx and Weber, Durkheimand Mead, Horkheimer and Adorno, Schutz and Parsons. Reason andthe Rationalization of Society develops a sociological theoryof action that stresses not its means-ends or teleological aspect,but the need to coordinate action socially via communication. Inthe introductory chapter Habermas sets out a powerful series ofarguments on such foundational issues as cultural and historicalrelativism, the methodology of Verstehen, the inseparabilty ofinterpretation from critique. In addition to clarifying thenormative foundations of critical social inquiry, this sets thestage for a systematic appropriation of Weber's theory ofrationalization and its Marxist reception by Lukacs, Horkheimer andAdorno. This is an important book for degree students of philosophy,sociology and related subjects.