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18 - Jürgen Habermas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2020

By
Simon Susen
Edited by
Peter Kivisto
Peter Kivisto
Affiliation:
Augustana College, Illinois
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Summary

The main purpose of this chapter is to provide a summary of the main intellectual contributions that the German sociologist and philosopher Jürgen Habermas has made to contemporary social theory. To this end, the chapter provides an overview of his life and career; principal areas of research; conception of critical theory; interpretation of relevant intellectual traditions; and his plea for a paradigm shift, commonly known as the “linguistic turn.” The final section grapples with the main limitations and shortcomings of Habermas’s oeuvre, notably with regard to his theory of communicative action.

Simon Susen is Professor of Sociology at City, University of London. He is an Associate Member of the Bauman Institute and, together with Bryan S. Turner, editor of the Journal of Classical Sociology.

Keywords

Critical theoryJürgen Habermaslinguistic turnparadigm shiftsocial theorytheory of communicative action
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Social Theory , pp. 369 - 394
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

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  • Jürgen Habermas
  • Edited by Peter Kivisto, Augustana College, Illinois
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Social Theory
  • Online publication: 03 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316677445.019
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  • Jürgen Habermas
  • Edited by Peter Kivisto, Augustana College, Illinois
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Social Theory
  • Online publication: 03 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316677445.019
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Jürgen Habermas
  • Edited by Peter Kivisto, Augustana College, Illinois
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Social Theory
  • Online publication: 03 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316677445.019
Available formats
×