Habermas:: A Guide for the Perplexed

In this introduction to Jurgen Habermas, Thomassen (Political Theory, University of London) attempts to make the work of this German political philosopher more accessible to readers encountering it for the first time. The book covers all of Habermas' major topics, including his writings on the public sphere, his theories of communicative action, validity, and deliberative democracy, and his most recent work on supra-national democratic institutions and the role of religion in contemporary societies. Thomassen places Habermas' writings into their political and philosophical contexts, and contrasts his work with that of other thinkers, especially the members of the Frankfurt School. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Lasse Thomassen is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Politics at Queen Mary, University of London, and García-Pelayo Fellow at the Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, Madrid, Spain. He is the author of Deconstructing Habermas (Routledge, 2007) and editor of The Derrida-Habermas Reader (Edinburgh UP, 2006) and Radical Democracy (Manchester UP, 2005).