JURGEN HABERMAS AND THE RATIONAL UTOPIA (original) (raw)
This paper appraises Jurgen Habermas’ attempt to reclaim the emancipatory philosophical connection between reason and freedom on the modern terrain, paying particular attention to possibilities for a democratic public sphere generated out of Habermas' lifeworld in contradistinction to the system world of money and power. Habermas is firmly part of the tradition of 'rational freedom'. Looking to realise the freedom of each and all within community, Habermas is concerned to reject the postructuralist and postmodern accusation that 'rational’ unity necessarily entails the totalitarian suppression of difference and autonomy. Arguing that the social and philosophical grounds of both individualist liberalism and orthodox marxism have dissolved, Habermas is shown to argue that a critical theory of modernity is more adequately grounded in the suppressed traces of Reason as embodied in communicative structures. Habermas' 'rational' ideal is shown to adumbrate and justify a post-capitalist 'good' society characterised by the greatest possible happiness, peace, and community.
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