THE THEORY OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTION

THE THEORY OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTION

| JÜRGEN HABERMAS
Jürgen Habermas's *The Theory of Communicative Action* aims to achieve three fundamental objectives: first, to develop a concept of rationality that is emancipated from the subjective and individualistic assumptions prevalent in modern philosophy and social theories; second, to integrate the paradigms of system and lifeworld into a two-level concept of society; and finally, to propose a critical theory of modernity, highlighting its deficiencies and suggesting new directions rather than simply rejecting it. Habermas reconstructs the ideas of classical social theorists, including Max Weber, Durkheim, Mead, Marx, Lukács, Horkheimer, Adorno, and Parsons, through a virtual debate. He seeks to surpass these thinkers by integrating methods and issues previously divided between philosophy and empirical social science. He traces the Cartesian paradigm, which dominated modern thought since the 18th century, to its challenges from the 19th century onwards, particularly through the works of Hegel, Marx, Darwin, Nietzsche, and Freud. These thinkers collectively led to a "dismemberment" of the spirit and a devaluation of philosophy. Habermas argues that the reproduction of human species requires a rationality inherent in communicative action, as socially coordinated activities are maintained through communication. He criticizes the modern tendency towards atomism, where the subject is in opposition to an infinite number of objects, and the cognitive-instrumental rationality associated with this model. Instead, he emphasizes the communicative dimension of action, focusing on the role of language in integrating objective, social, and subjective worlds. This communicative action is seen as the only path to overcoming conservative thinking and the exhaustion of modernist projects. The *Theory of Communicative Action* is a systematic work that has significant implications for organizational analysis and is currently being discussed by experts across various fields. Its importance for educational and research contexts is evident, and its applications are growing.Jürgen Habermas's *The Theory of Communicative Action* aims to achieve three fundamental objectives: first, to develop a concept of rationality that is emancipated from the subjective and individualistic assumptions prevalent in modern philosophy and social theories; second, to integrate the paradigms of system and lifeworld into a two-level concept of society; and finally, to propose a critical theory of modernity, highlighting its deficiencies and suggesting new directions rather than simply rejecting it. Habermas reconstructs the ideas of classical social theorists, including Max Weber, Durkheim, Mead, Marx, Lukács, Horkheimer, Adorno, and Parsons, through a virtual debate. He seeks to surpass these thinkers by integrating methods and issues previously divided between philosophy and empirical social science. He traces the Cartesian paradigm, which dominated modern thought since the 18th century, to its challenges from the 19th century onwards, particularly through the works of Hegel, Marx, Darwin, Nietzsche, and Freud. These thinkers collectively led to a "dismemberment" of the spirit and a devaluation of philosophy. Habermas argues that the reproduction of human species requires a rationality inherent in communicative action, as socially coordinated activities are maintained through communication. He criticizes the modern tendency towards atomism, where the subject is in opposition to an infinite number of objects, and the cognitive-instrumental rationality associated with this model. Instead, he emphasizes the communicative dimension of action, focusing on the role of language in integrating objective, social, and subjective worlds. This communicative action is seen as the only path to overcoming conservative thinking and the exhaustion of modernist projects. The *Theory of Communicative Action* is a systematic work that has significant implications for organizational analysis and is currently being discussed by experts across various fields. Its importance for educational and research contexts is evident, and its applications are growing.
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