Habermas

Jurgen Habermas is one of the most important German philosophers and social theorists of the twentieth century. His work has been compared in scope with Max Weber’s, and in philosophical breadth to that of Kant and Hegel.

In this much-needed introduction Kenneth Baynes engages with the full range of Habermas’s philosophical work, beginning with his historical study of the emergence of the public sphere and his early philosophical text,Knowledge and Human Interests. He then examines one of Habermas’s most influential works,The Theory of Communicative Action, before examining his broader philosophical orientation under the heading of "Kantian pragmatism". Also covered is Habermas's work on a discourse morality and his contributions to political and legal theory, including his conception of a deliberative democracy, his engagement with John Rawls work and his views on cosmopolitanism.

The final chapter assesses Habermas’s role as a polemical and prominent public intellectual and his criticism of postmodernism inThe Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, in addition to his more recent writings on the relationship between religion and democracy.

Habermas is essential reading for anyone interested in this key figure in contemporary philosophy, and an invaluable guide for those coming to his work for the first time.

Kenneth Baynes is Professor of Philosophy at Syracuse University, USA. He works primarily in social and political philosophy, with a special focus in critical theory. He is a co-editor ofAfter Philosophy: End or Transformation? and Discourse and Democracy, and the author ofThe Normative Grounds of Social Criticism: Kant, Rawls and Habermas.