Jürgen Habermas Quotes

Jürgen Habermas is a German sociologist and philosopher in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. He is perhaps best known for his theories on communicative rationality and the public sphere. In 2014, Prospect readers chose Habermas as one of their favourites among the "world's leading thinkers."

Associated with the Frankfurt School, Habermas's work focuses on the foundations of social theory and epistemology, the analysis of advanced capitalistic societies and democracy, the rule of law in a critical social-evolutionary context, and contemporary politics, particularly German politics. Habermas's theoretical system is devoted to revealing the possibility of reason, emancipation, and rational-critical communication latent in modern institutions and in the human capacity to deliberate and pursue rational interests. Habermas is known for his work on the concept of modernity, particularly with respect to the discussions of rationalization originally set forth by Max Weber. He has been influenced by American pragmatism, action theory, and even poststructuralism.

Jürgen Habermas is the father of Rebekka Habermas, historian of German social and cultural history and professor of modern history in Göttingen.

✵ 18. June 1929
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Jürgen Habermas: 24   quotes 20   likes

Famous Jürgen Habermas Quotes

“The speaker must choose a comprehensible [verständlich] expression so that speaker and hearer can understand one another.”

Habermas (1979) cited in: Werner Ulrich (1983) Critical heuristics of social planning. p. 123

“[Critical social science attempts] to determine when theoretical statements grasp invariant regularities of social action as such and when they express ideologically frozen relations of dependence that can in principle be transformed.”

Source: Knowledge and Human Interests, 1971, p. 310 as cited in: Dominick LaCapra (1983) Rethinking Intellectual History: Texts, Contexts, Language. p. 170

Jürgen Habermas Quotes about understanding

Jürgen Habermas Quotes

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