Introduction to Habermas [Paperback]

This book provides a compact and up-to-date presentation of J?rgen Habermas oeuvre, with particular reference to his theory of communicative action. Segre explores Habermas themes of the rationalization of the life-world and its consequences on the social, cultural, and personality systems. This book also overviews the reception of Habermas work.This book provides a compact and up-to-date presentation of J?rgen Habermas oeuvre, with particular reference to his theory of communicative action. It formulates the concepts of communicative rationality and validity claims, indicates the conditions of a perfect communicative rationality, and underscores Habermas distinction between understanding- and success-oriented actions. Moreover, this book considers Habermas critical reception of classical sociologists such as Weber and Durkheim; of the Lukacs and Frankfurt school; of Schutz, Mead, and Wittgenstein; and of important contemporary authors such as Foucault, Parsons, and Luhmann. Segre also explores Habermas themes of the rationalization of the life-world and its consequences on the social, cultural, and personality systems. He discusses Habermas well-known theses of colonization of the life-world, its impact on the public sphere and communicative action, and the legitimacy crisis that follows as a consequence. Finally, Introduction to Habermas provides an overview of the receptionboth critical and appreciativeof Habermas work.IntroductionChapter 1: The Theory of Communicative ActionChapter 2: An Outline of Habermas Democratic TheoryChapter 3: Rationalization of the Life WorldChapter 4: Colonization of the Life WorldChapter 5: The Public Sphere as a Source of LegitimacyChapter 6: The Reception of Habermas WorkBibliographyIndexSandro Segre is professor of sociology at the University of Genoa in Italy. Some of his more recent publications include Talcott Parsons: An Introduction (University Press of America, 2012) and A Weberian Analysis of Business Groups andl£O