Jürgen Habermas Critical Essay | Critical Review by Per Fjelstad

SOURCE: A review of Postmetaphysical Thinking and Philosophical Interventions in the Unfinished Project of Enlightenment, in The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Vol. 80, No. 4, November, 1994, pp. 500-03.

In the following review of a festschrift dedicated to Habermas and Postmetaphysical Thinking, Fjelstad examines the "communicative implications" of Habermas's notion of "the self-hood of the individual" in the philosopher's book.

Jürgen Habermas has afforded the self-hood of individuals a remarkably central place in his philosophy of social life. This commitment is not always evident, given Habermas's better known attention to the ideal of universal consensus and to the pragmatics of general social norms. Still, his communicative model equally values claims to truth, rightness, and truthfulness. By claiming truthfulness, communicators assume responsibility for the selves they proclaim to be. Two recent books, one a collection of essays by Habermas, the other a festschrift dedicated to him on his sixtieth birthday, develop...
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