Communicative Action: Essays on Jürgen Habermas's The Theory of Communicative Action

312 Pages·1991·21.3 MB·English

by  Axel Honneth

Communicative Action
Essays on Jiirgen Habermas's
The Theory of Communicative Action
Edited by
J
Axel Honneth and Hans oas
Translated by
Jeremy Gaines and Doris L. Jones
The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
First MIT Press edition, 1991
This English translation© Policy Press 1991
First published as Kommunikatit>es Handeln: Beitrage zu)iirgen Habermas' ·Theorie des
kommunkiativen Handelns', Introduction and chapters 1, 6, 7, 11 © Suhrkamp Verlag,
Frankfurt/Main 1986; chapter 4 ©The Ameri<·an}ournal ofS ociology (1985/6). Otherwise
each chapter is the copyright of the individual author.
All rights reserved. No part of chis book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic
or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and
retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed and bound in Grear Britain.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kommunikatives Handeln. English.
Communicative action: essays onJiirge_n Habermas's Theory of communicative action/
edited by Axel Honneth and Hans Joas: translated by Jeremy Gaines and Doris L. Jones-
1st MIT Press ed.
p. cm.-{Studies in contemporary German social thought)
Translation of: Kommunikatives Handeln.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-262-08196-2
l. Habermas, Jiirgen. Theories des kommunikativen Handelns. 2. Sociology
Philosophy. 3. Communication-Philosophy. 4. Rationalism. 5. Social interaction.
I. Honnech, Axel, 1949- II. Joas, Hans, 1948- III. Tide. IV. Series.
HM24.H323K6513 1990
301' .01--dc20 90-6125
CIP
Contents
Publishers' Note vn
On the Contributors vm
Introduction 1
Axel Honneth and Hans ]oas
1 The Transformation of Critical Theory 7
Herbert Schnadelbach
2 Language and Society 23
Charles Taylor
3 The Two Meanings of 'Communicative' Rationality: Remarks 36
on Habermas's Critique of a Plural Concept of Reason
Martin See!
4 Habermas and Critical Theory: Beyond the Marxian 49
Dilemma?
jeffrey Alexander
5 Communicative Reason and Interest: On the Reconstruction 74
of the Normative Order in Societies Structured by
Egalitarianism or Domination
Gunter Dux
6 The Unhappy Marriage of Hermeneutics and Functionalism 97
Hans]oas
vt Contents
7 Complexity and Democracy: or the Seducements of Systems 119
Theory
Thomas McCarthy
8 Communicative Action or the Mode of Communication for 140
Society as a Whole
Hans-Peter Kruger
9 The Linguistification of the Sacred and the Delinguistification 165
of the Economy
Johannes Berger
10 Modernity as Project and as Field of Tensions 181
Johann P. Amason
11 A Reply 214
Jurgen Habermas
Bibliographical Note 265
Notes 266 ·
Index 295
Publishers' Note
All the contributions in this volume have been translated from German,
except those by Jeffrey Alexander and Thomas McCarthy, which are
published here in their original English versions.
On the Contributors
Jeffrey Alexander, born 1947, is Professor of Sociology at the University
of California in Los Angeles. His publications include Theoretical Logic in
Sociology, 4 vols (Berkeley, 1981-3); Twenty Lectures. Sociological Theory
after 1945, (New York, 1987).
Johann Pall Arnason, born 1940 in Dalvik, Iceland, has been teaching
sociology at La Trobe University in Melbourne since 1978. His publica
tions include Von Marcuse zu Marx (Neuwied, 1971); Zwischen Natur und
Gesellschaft (Cologne, 1976 ), Praxis und Interpretation (Frankfurt, 1988).
Johannes Berger, born 1939, is Professor of Sociology at the University of
Mannheim. His publications include (with V. Bader and others) Krise und
Kapitalismus bei Marx, 3 vols (Frankfurt, 1975); (with V. Bader) Ein
fuhrung in die Gesellschaftstheorie (Frankfurt, 1980). He has written exten
sively on political economy and research on the labour market.
Giinter Dux, born 1930, is Professor of Sociology at the University of
Freiburg. His present interest can best be described under the heading of
'history and cognition'. His publications include Strukturwandel der Legi
timation (Freiburg, 1976); Rechtssoziologie (Stuttgart, 1978); Die Logik der
Weltbilder, Sinnstrukturen im Wandel der Geschichte, 2nd edn. (Frankfurt,
1985); Die Zeit in der Geschichte (Frankfurt, 1989).
Axel Honneth, born 1949 in Essen, teaches philosophy at the J.W. Goethe
University in Frankfurt. His publications include (with Hans Joas) Social
Action and Human Nature, (Cambrid12e, 1988); Kritik der Macht. Re
flexionsstufen einer kritischen Gesellschajtstheorie (Frankfurt, 1985, English
language edn., Cambridge, MA, 1991); Die zerrissene Welt des Sozialen.
Sozialphilosophische Aufsiitze (Frankfurt, 1990).
On the Contributors ix
Hans Joas, born 1948 in Munich, is Professor of Sociology at the Free
University Berlin. His publications include Die gegenwartige Lage der
soziologischen Rollentheorie (Frankfurt, 1973-8); G. H. Mead. A Contem
porary Reexamination (Cambridge, 1985); (with Axel Honneth) Social
Action and Human Nature (Cambridge, 1988); (with Michael Bochow)
Wissenschaft und Karriere (Frankfurt, 1987). He has published extensively
on sociological theory and research on education.
Hans-Peter Kruger, born 1954 in Potsdam, gained his doctorate in 1979 at
the Humboldt University in East Berlin with a thesis on Heroismus und
Arbeit in der Entstehungsgeschichte der Hegelschen Philosophie 1788-1803.
He has been a member of the 'Institut fiir Theorie, Geschichte und Organ
isation der Wissenschaft' attached to the GDR Academy of Sciences since
1982. His publications include: Kritik der kommunikativen Vernunft
(Berlin/GDR, 1990).
Thomas McCarthy, born 1940, is Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern
University in Evanston, Illinois. He is the author of the book The Critical
Theory of ]urgen Habermas (Cambridge, MA, 1978), as well as of numer
ous articles on epistemology and critical theory. He is also the translator of
several books written by Habermas, and editor of the series Contemporary
German Social Thought (Cambridge, MA).
Herbert Schnidelbach, born 1936 in Altenburg, Thuringia, has been Pro
fessor of Philosophy, especially Social Philosophy, at the University of
Hamburg since 1978. Publications include Erjahrung, Begrundung und
Reflexion, Versuch uber den Positivismus (Frankfurt, 1971); Geschichtsphi
losophie nach Hegel (Freiburg/Munich, 1974); Reflexion und Diskurs
(Frankfurt, 1977); Philosophie in Deutschland 1831-1933 (Frankfurt,
1983); (with E. Martens) Philosophie. Ein Grundkurs (Reinbek bei Ham
burg, 1985). He has contributed to numerous journals, collected volumes
and reference work.
Martin Seel, born 1954 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, is Research Assistant
in Philosophy at the University of Constance. His publications include Die
Kunst der Entzweiung. Zum Begriff der asthetischen Rationalitat (Frank
furt, 1985 ).
Charles Taylor, born 1931 in Montreal, is Professor of Political Philoso
phy at the McGill University in Montreal. His publications include The
Explanation of Behavior (London, 1964); Hegel (Cambridge, 1975); Hegel
and Modern Society (Cambridge, 1979); Philosophical Papers I and II
(Cambridge, 1985); Sources of the Self. The Making of the Modern Identi
ty (Cambridge, 1989), and numerous articles.

Introduction
Axel Honneth and Hans]oas
In 1981, Jiirgen Habermas published his 'Theory of Communicative Ac
tion' as a two-volume book (English language edn, Boston, 1984 and 1987).
He thus brought to a provisional conclusion the intellectual efforts of
twenty years of reflexion and research. The basic idea informing it, namely
that an indestructible moment of communicative rationality is anchored in
the social form of human life, is defended in this book by means of a
contemporary philosophy of language and science, and is used as the
foundation for a comprehensive social theory. As is often the case in
Habermas's writings, systematic argumentation and the close scrutiny of
theoretical traditions are closely intertwined here. The theories of Weber,
Mead, Durkheim and Parsons, as well as Marxism (albeit more in the
background), provide the system of reference within which the basic ideas
for a theory of society are historically justified and at the same time tested
by argument.
As soon as the book appeared, it attracted widespread attention which,
given the difficulties which it presented to the reader, is indeed surprising.
The first published reactions to it, however, fell embarrassingly short of the
complexity and richness of the book; the most common criticism, usually
voiced ironically, was that it was a hopelessly idealistic undertaking,
although such reviews neither discussed the book in any depth nor gave a
fair account of it. It was not long, however, before a more serious-minded
discussion of the book began, and this has continued unabated ever since
and, to a remarkable degree, is being carried on at the international level. It
would hardly be an exaggeration to say that Habermas's writings as a
whole and this book in particular have become a focal point of internation
al debate on theory in the social sciences - and with good reason. There
can be few other authors who, in terms of systematic argumentation and
knowledge of intellectual history, thematic breadth and the drive to di
agnose the present, are so capable of drawing together the most diverse
2 Axel Honneth and Hans ]oas
areas and issues of discussion. Indeed, anyone participating in debate today
with nothing at all to say about this great figure excludes him/herself from
the ranks of serious theorists.
It is our impression that the discussion has focused increasingly on four
thematic complexes and the intrinsic links between them. These four
themes are: firstly, the question of a meaningful concept of the rationality
of actions, persons or forms of life; secondly, the problem of an appropri
ate theory of action; thirdly, the question of the connection between
individual actions, in other words, the problem commonly treated in
sociology as that of defining a concept of social order; fourthly, the
diagnosis of contemporary society - in other words, analysis of the principal
present trends and crises. Habermas's proposed solutions to these prob
lems cannot be reconstructed adequately here. Roughly speaking, he seeks
firstly to defend a concept of communicative rationality by means of a
specific conception of 'validity claims intrinsic to speech', in order to resist
instrumentalistic reductions of rationality as well as those fashionable slo
gans which/ut the blame on reason. Secondly, his theory of action is
characterize by dichotomously juxtaposing communicative action and
instrumental or strategic action. Thirdly, at the level of a theory of social
order, Habermas introduces two concepts: the concept of 'lifeworld' and
that of 'system', which is derived from functionalism; a wide-ranging
exposition is devoted to the historical process in which these two types of
order factually separate out. Fourthly, this pair of concepts is also at the
heart of Habermas's diagnosis of contemporary society, which above all
emphasizes the danger to the lifeworld posed by system imperatives, but at
the same time warns against withdrawing the rationality of systemic
mechanisms from the domain of the state and the economy.
Given the time that has now passed since its original publication, it
would appear possible and fruitful to take preliminary stock of the discus
sion surrounding the contribution which The Theory of Communicative
Action makes to philosophy and the social sciences. This is the task which
the present collection of articles has set itself. It contains some previously
published contributions to the discussion, but most of the chapters were
written especially for this book. The principle that guided us in selecting or
requesting contributions was whether the respective author was able -
despite concentration on specific weaknesses, real or apparent, in Haber
mas's theoretical edifice - to keep sight of the overall structure. One
disadvantage of this approach is that no attempt is made to have the
relevant expert communities conduct the equally necessary examination of
Habermas's interpretations of the sociological classics. Only a few of the
contributions to this volume include even marginal comments correcting
Habermas's interpretations of Weber, Mead, Durkheim, Parsons and Marx .
. The volume starts off with three essays devoted to Habermas's sugges
nons for a solution to the issue of rationality. Herbert Schnadelbach,
Charles Taylor and Martin Seel critically examine from different perspec
tives the approach that Habermas uses to distinguish between different
validity claims intrinsic to speech in an attempt to reconstruct three aspects