Habermas: A Very Short Introduction

Habermas In The Very Short Introduction Series

Jurgen Habermas (b. 1929) is a German philosopher and sociologist whose thought receives a great deal of attention. In his book, "Habermas" (2005) for the Very Short Introduction Series, James Gordon Finlayson successfully undertakes the challenging task of writing succintly about the large body of Habermas' work in a way understandable to new readers. Finlayson, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sussex, has written extensively on Habermas. He has recently written a study of the philosophical debate between Habermas and the American political philosopher, John Rawls, "The Habermas-Rawls Debate" (2019). Another recent scholarly book by Marcin Kilanowski, Professor of Law at Nicholas Copernicus University in Poland, explores the debate between Harbermas and the American neo-pragmatic philosopher, Richard Rorty, "The Rorty-Habermas Debate: Toward Freedom as Responsibility" (2021). I have read a small amount of Habermas, and my interest in this "Very Short Introduction" to his work stemmed from my interest in his interaction with American philosophers, including Rawls and Rorty.

Habermas' thought is dauntingly complex in its length, erudtion, and breadth. He draws heavily on the German Kantian tradition, on the works of sociologists including Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, and on the pragmatism of American philosophy, among much else. An introduction to Habermas may be short, but it cannot be simple. Habermas is a broad, systematic philosophical thinker of a scope that is uncomfortable to the more analytically-oriented approach of most American and British philosophy of Habermas' time. Still, Habermas draws effectively on analytical philosophy, including the work of J.L. Austin and the philosophy of language.

Finlayson places Habermas within the Frankfurt School of German philosophy and sees Habermas as taking a more hopeful view of the possible success of democracy than his predecessors. Most of his book is devoted to Habermas' mature work, dating from about 1980 in developing its themes and their interrelationships. The book develops in its central chapters what Finlayson describes as Habermas' "Five Major Research Programmes". Finlayson also offers a summary of each programme in an Appendix, which might serve as a good place to start following the two opening chapters.

The first two programmes "the pragmatic meaning programme" and "the theory of communicative rationality" are the most difficult and broadest. They involve traditional metaphysical issues of the nature of consciousness and of understanding reality and Habermas' approach to and rejection of traditional philosophical answers. He develops a theory of meaning based upon his reading of the American pragmatists, including John Dewey and George Mead. The third programme, devoted to social theory combines philosophy, influenced by Edmund Husserl's concept of the life world, wirh social theory as Habermas works to explain the possibility of social order in a modern, diverse, complex world. The fourth programme deals with what Habermas terms "discourse ethics" and deals with philosophical questions of the nature of right and wrong, from a perspective heavily influenced by Kant. The fifth programe of "political theory" discusses the prerequisites of a well-ordered, functioning political system and of the rule of law.

With respect to each programme, Finlayson endeavors to explain Habermas' thought, its influences, and its goal in clear language with useful examples. He also discusses the many criticisms that other philosophers and social theorists have made of Habermas' efforts. As the book proceeds, Finlayson works to integrate Habermas' later programmes with what his preceeded them, which is far from an easy or clear task. In his final chapter, Finlayson explores some of Habermas' views on key political issues of his time, including German reunification and the integration of Europe. Habermas is a critic of nationalism and he develops an intriguing concept of "Constitutional patriotism" in its stead.

Finlayson's short introduction is difficult in its own right, but it helped me and I think will help other seriously interested readers approach Habermas. The book will be best suited for readers with a strong background in philosophy and social theory. The book will help me understand the relationship of Habermas' thought to that of Rorty and Rawls.

Robin Friedman