Jurgen Habermas Quotes
Jurgen Habermas is a German philosopher and sociologist, the most influential heir of the Frankfurt School and the foremost theorist of communicative reason. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere traced the rise and decline of the bourgeois public sphere in early modern Europe, while his two-volume Theory of Communicative Action argued that rationality is rooted not in the solitary subject but in the structures of intersubjective communication oriented toward mutual understanding. The quotes below are attributed to Jurgen Habermas, organized by topic.
Jurgen Habermas on Justice
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Attributed to Jurgen Habermas:
“Discourse ethics begins with the idea that only those norms can claim validity that meet with the approval of all those affected as participants in a practical discourse.”
Jurgen Habermas on Knowledge
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“Habermas (1972) "Sprachspiel, intention und Bedeutung. Zu Motiven bei Sellars und Wittgenstein". In R.W. Wiggerhaus (Ed.) Sprachanalyse and Soziologie . Frankfurt: Suhrkamp). p. 334”
Subjects who reciprocally recognize each other as such, must consider each other as identical, insofar as they both take up the position of subject; they must at all times subsume themselves and the other under the same category. At the same time, the relation of reciprocity of recognition demands the non-identity of one and the other, both must also maintain their absolute difference, for to be a -
“This is called the paradoxical achievement of intersubjectivity”
Subjects who reciprocally recognize each other as such, must consider each other as identical, insofar as they both take up the position of subject; they must at all times subsume themselves and the other under the same category. At the same time, the relation of reciprocity of recognition demands the non-identity of one and the other, both must also maintain their absolute difference, for to be a -
“The speaker must choose a comprehensible [verständlich] expression so that speaker and hearer can understand one another.”
Habermas (1979) cited in: Werner Ulrich (1983) Critical heuristics of social planning . p. 123 -
“Habermas (1979) cited in: Werner Ulrich (1983) Critical heuristics of social planning . p. 123”
The speaker must choose a comprehensible [verständlich] expression so that speaker and hearer can understand one another. -
“I would in fact tend to have more confidence in the outcome of a democratic decision if there was a minority that voted against it, than if it was unanimous… Social psychology has amply shown the strength of this bandwagon effect.”
Habermas (1993) "Further reflections on the public sphere", in: Craig Calhoun Eds. Habermas and the Public Sphere . MIT Press. p. 441 -
“Habermas (1993) "Further reflections on the public sphere", in: Craig Calhoun Eds. Habermas and the Public Sphere . MIT Press. p. 441”
I would in fact tend to have more confidence in the outcome of a democratic decision if there was a minority that voted against it, than if it was unanimous… Social psychology has amply shown the strength of this bandwagon effect. -
“Technically speaking, since our complex societies are highly susceptible to interferences and accidents,they certainly offer ideal opportunities for a prompt disruption of normal activities. These disruptions can, with minimum expense, have considerably destructive consequences. Global terrorism is extreme both in its lack of realistic goals and in its cynical exploitation of the vulnerability of complex systems .”
Habermas (2004) in: Giovanna Borradori (2004) Philosophy in a Time of Terror: : Dialogues with Jurgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida . p. 34
Jurgen Habermas on Nature
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“Habermas (2003) The Future of Human Nature . p. 10”
As historical and social beings we find ourselves always already in a linguistically structured lifeworld. In the forms of communication through which we reach an understanding with one another about something in the world and about ourselves, we encounter a transcending power. Language is not a kind of private property. No one possesses exclusive rights over the common medium of the communicative
Jurgen Habermas on Politics
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Attributed to Jurgen Habermas:
“The public sphere is a realm of social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed.”
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“Habermas (1998) The Inclusion of the Other: Studies in Political Theory . Ciaran Cronin and Pablo De Greiff, eds. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.”
The 'state' on the modern conception is a legally defined term which refers, at the level of substance, to a state power that possesses both internal and external sovereignty, at the spatial level over a clearly delimited terrain (the state territory) and at the social level over the totality of members (the body of citizens or the people). State power constitutes itself in the forms of positive l
Jurgen Habermas on Time
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Attributed to Jurgen Habermas:
“Modernity is an unfinished project.”
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“Subjects who reciprocally recognize each other as such, must consider each other as identical, insofar as they both take up the position of subject; they must at all times subsume themselves and the other under the same category. At the same time, the relation of reciprocity of recognition demands the non-identity of one and the other, both must also maintain their absolute difference, for to be a subject implies the claim of individuation.”
Habermas (1972) "Sprachspiel, intention und Bedeutung. Zu Motiven bei Sellars und Wittgenstein". In R.W. Wiggerhaus (Ed.) Sprachanalyse and Soziologie . Frankfurt: Suhrkamp). p. 334 | This is called the paradoxical achievement of intersubjectivity
Jurgen Habermas on Truth
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Attributed to Jurgen Habermas:
“Truth is what we may agree on through argument, but it is not reducible to consensus.”
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Attributed to Jurgen Habermas:
“The ideal speech situation is a counterfactual presupposition built into every act of communication aimed at understanding.”