COMMUNICATIVE RATIONALITY

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COMMUNICATIVE RATIONALITY
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• 1. THE RENEWAL OF CRITICAL THEORY
• What is Habermass concept of philosophy?
• 2. LIFEWORLD AND SYSTEM
• How to conceive of modern societies?
• 3. DELIBERATIVE POLITICS
• Which role does law play in the world society?

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1. THE RENEWAL OF CRITICAL THEORY
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JÜRGEN HABERMAS (1929)

• BIOGRAPHICAL NOTIONS
• 18 June 1929 born in Düsseldorf.
• 1949-1954 studied philosophy, psychology,
  economics and literature in Göttingen, Zürich and
  Bonn.
• 1955-1959 Assistant of Theodor W. Adorno in
  Frankfurt.
• 1959-1961 Researcher and Habilitant.
• 1961-1964 professor of philosophy in Heidelberg.
• 1964-1971 professor of philosophy and sociology
  in Frankfurt.
• 1971-1981 director of the Max Planck Institute.
• 1981-1994 professor of philosophy in Frankfurt.
• 1994 Professor emeritus.

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IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS

• Student und Politik (1962).
• Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit (1962).
• Technik und Wissenschaft als Ideology (1968).
• Erkenntnis und Interesse (1968).
• Legitimationsprobleme im Spätkapitalismus (1973).
• Zur Rekonstruktion des Historischen Materialismus
  (1976).
• Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns (1981).
• Moralbewußtsein und kommunikatives Handeln
  (1984).
• Der philosophische Diskurs der Moderne (1985).
• Nachmetaphysisches Denken(1988).
• Faktizität und Geltung (1992).
• Die Einbeziehung des Anderen (1996).
• Die postnationale Konstellation (1998).
• Wahrheit und Rechtfertigung (1999).
• Der gespaltene Westen (2004).
• Ach, Europa (2008).

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FRANKFURTER SCHULE

• Institut für Sozialforschung gt founded in 1923
  by Felix Weil.
• Interdisciplinary research program.
• History of the labour movement.
• Studying the socio-economic, psychological and
  cultural factors to explain why people submit
  themselves to authoritarian regimes.

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CLAIMS OF CRITICAL THEORIES

• 1. Cognitive claim to present an adequate
  analysis of the society.
• 2. Normative claim to give a fair judgment on
  the society.
• 3. Emancipatory claim an adequate analysis and a
  fair judgment should help to overcome situations
  of oppression and marginalization.
• 4. Selfreflexive claim to be self-critical.

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PLACEHOLDER AND INTERPRETER

• The philosopher is a placeholder of reason.
• Philosophy is postmetaphysical gt close
  co-operation with empirical sciences.
• Beyond foundationalism gt no privileged access to
  the truth.
• Replacement of substantial rationality by formal
  rationality.
• Because of the differentiation of different
  fields of knowledge, philosophers are needed to
  create bridges between the expert and the layman.
• This implies that they should play the role of
  interpreter.

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2. LIFEWORLD AND SYSTEM
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MOTIVES OF A PROJECT

• Theory of communicative action gt aim is to
  renew critical theory.
• Deficits of the old critical theory one-sided
  negative view on the world society
  subject-object model of classical metaphysics and
  no normative theory.
• Motives
• 1. A theory of rationality.
• 2. A theory of communicative action that can be
  used for a theory of the modern society.
• 3. A critical sketch of the process of
  rationalization.
• 4. A concept of society that integrates system
  theory and action theory.

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A THEORY OF RATIONALITY

• Three world relations
• 1. Objective world Subject ltgt Object.
• 2. Social world Subject ltgt Other subjects.
• 3. Subjective world Subject ltgt To itself.
• Philosophy as a theory of rationality.
• Rationality gt how speaking and acting subject
  acquire and use knowledge.
• Reconstruction of practical knowledge that is
  necessary to be knowledgeable actor among other
  actors.

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INSTRURMENTAL AND COMMUNICATIVE RATIONALITY

• In general rationality is the disposition of an
  individual that can communicate and act.
• Instrumental rationality gt something is mainly
  seen as a mean to attain a goal in an efficient
  and effective way.
• Strategic rationality gt someone is mainly seen as
  a mean to attain a goal in an efficient and
  effective way.
• Communicative rationality gt two or more subjects
  want to attain mutual understanding.

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A THEORY OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTION

• Three worlds the objective world, the social
  world and the subjective world.
• Three validity claims propositional truth,
  normative rightness and subjective truthfulness.
• The three validity claims are inherent to
  communicative action.
• Communicative action gt the interaction of at
  least two persons who are in search of mutual
  understanding about a specific situation in order
  to make plans and coordinate their actions.

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THE COORDINATION OF ACTIONS

• Language gt a medium for coordinating actions (but
  not the only medium).
• The coordination of actions implies that actors
  are oriented toward reaching mutual
  understanding.
• Communicative action gt the coordination of
  actions is inherently consensual and actors
  mobilise the potentials for rationality.
• Strategic actions gt to achieve individual goals
  in an efficient and effective way.

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RATIONALISATION

• Rationalisation refers to
• - the differentiation of several spheres
  (science and technology, law and morality, and
  art).
• - disenchantment of the world gt secularization.
• - the rise of instrumental rationality.
• - the emergence of a bureaucratic state.
• - the rise of communicative rationality.
• Paradigm shift is necessary from teleological
  action to communicative action.
• From the subject-object model to the model of
  intersubjectivity.

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LEARNING PROCESSES

• The reconstruction of the development of
  individuals and societies.
• Reconstruction gt render explicit the know-how
  underlying human actions.
• The development of individuals and societies can
  be seen as learning processes.
• Individual level gt the development of
  competences.
• Societal level gt the transformation of different
  types of societies.

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THE INTEGRATION OF TWO PARADIGMS

• Two perspectives
• 1. The perspective of the actor.
• 2. The perspective of the observer.
• Lifeworld the unquestioned background resources
  that enable actors to interpret the surrounding
  world and to coordinate their actions.
• Reproduction of the lifeworld gt communicative
  actions.
• System the coordination of actions is based upon
  nonlinguistic media money (market) and power
  (state).
• Reproduction of the system gt strategic actions.

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THE COLONISATION OF THE LIFEWORLD

• A critical view based on the integration of
  normative and empirical inquiry.
• The problem of modern societies gt the
  colonisation of the lifeworld by the imperatives
  of different systems (the state or the market).
• Colonisation gt money and power displace the
  communicative coordination of actions where that
  should not be the case (example universities
  governed by market strategies).

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3. DELIBERATIVE POLITICS
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FROM ORDINARY SPEECH TO DISCOURSES

• The validity claims that are inherent to
  communicative action can be the focus of
  discourses.
• Rationality gt presumption that good reasons can
  be given to justify validity claims in the face
  of criticism.
• Discourse lt an inclusive critical discussion that
  is free from pressures and in which actors treat
  each other as equals in order to reach mutual
  understanding on matters of common concern.
• Theoretical discourse gt the truth of
  propositions.
• Practical discourse gt the rightness of norms.

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IMPROVING DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES

• Democracy gt citizens author laws to which they
  are subject.
• The law should be the subject to the deliberation
  of citizens.
• Public sphere gt important for the public
  opinion-formation about (new) laws and issues
  that are in the common interest of citizens.
• A discourse theory of deliberative democracy.
• Aim to show how the model of ideal discourses
  can be linked to real institutional contexts.

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LAW BETWEEN FACTS AND VALUES

• Contra positivism (only interested in facts).
• Contra moralism (only interested in values).
• Focus on deliberation gt to come to a decision on
  the basis of a debate of all the interested
  parties instead of a decision on the basis of a
  command.
• Discourse principle gt a rule of action or
  decision is justified only if all those affected
  by the rule or decision could accept it in a
  discourse.

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LAW AND POLITICS

• Central question how to get a normative account
  of legitimate law?
• The answer is based upon a link between the
  discourse theory and the character of modern
  legal systems.
• No stable societies if citizens dont perceive
  the law not as legitimate.
• The legitimation of law gt citizens understand
  themselves as the authors of the laws they have
  to obey.
• A system of rights guarantees a minimum set of
  normative conditions for a legitimate political
  order.

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CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY

• The absence of exclusion or power distortion.
• Egalitarian reciprocity gt minorities must not,
  in virtue of their membership status, be entitled
  to lesser degrees of civil, political, social and
  cultural rights than the majority.
• Voluntary self-ascription gt an individuals group
  membership must permit the most extensive forms
  of self-ascription and self-identification
  possible.
• Freedom of exit and association.

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COSMOPOLITANISM

• A just cosmopolitan politcal order should be
  based on international public law.
• The emergence of international public law and a
  transnational civil society (NGOs).
• The creation of opportunities for political
  participation at a transnational level.
• Postnational democracy gt self-determination
  through legislation is also an important
  criterion of democracy at the transnational
  level.
• At a transnational level governance can only be
  indirectly democratic.