Essays
Plea for a Constitutionalization of International Law
– "Plea for a Constitutionalization of International Law." Philosophy & Social Criticism 40.1 (2014): 5-12.Merkel’s European Failure: Germany Dozes on a Volcano
– "Merkel's European Failure: Germany Dozes on a Volcano." Constellations 21.2 (2014): 199-201.Reply to My Critics
– "Reply to My Critics." In Habermas and Religion, edited by Craig Calhoun, Eduardo Mendieta, and Jonathan Van Antwerpen. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.‘The Political’: The Rational Meaning of a Questionable Inheritance of Political Theology.
– "'The Political': The Rational Meaning of a Questionable Inheritance of Political Theology." In The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere, edited by Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan Van Antwerpen, 15-33. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.Reply to My Critics
– "Reply to My Critics." In Habermas and Rawls: Disputing the Political, edited by James Gordon Finlayson & Fabian Freyenhagen, 283-304. New York: Routledge, 2011.Europe’s Post-Democratic Era
– "Europe's Post-Democratic Era." Guardian, November 11, 2011.“At European level, democratic institutions enter into a new constellation. One element involved in this is solidarity: once a constitutional community extends beyond the boundaries of a single state, solidarity among citizens who are willing to support… More
On the Concept of Human Dignity and the Realist Utopia of Human Rights
– "On the Concept of Human Dignity and the Realist Utopia of Human Rights." Metaphilosophy 41 (2010): 464-480.Human rights developed in response to specific violations of human dignity, and can therefore be conceived as specifications of human dignity, their moral source. This internal relationship explains the moral content and moreover the distinguishing feature of… More
The ‘Good Life’ – A ‘Detestable Phrase’: The Significance of the Young Rawls’s Religious Ethics for His Political Theory
– "The 'Good Life' - A 'Detestable Phrase': The Significance of the Young Rawls's Religious Ethics for His Political Theory." European Journal of Philosophy 18.3 (2010): 443-453.Review Essay on: A Brief Inquiry into the Meaning of Sin and Faith, with ‘On My Religion’, by John Rawls, edited by Thomas Nagel.
‘… And to Define America, Her Athletic Democracy’: The Philosopher and the Language Shaper; In Memory of Richard Rorty
– "'... And to Define America, Her Athletic Democracy': The Philosopher and the Language Shaper; In Memory of Richard Rorty." New Literary History 39 (2008): 3-12.Notes on a Post-Secular Society
– "Notes on a Post-Secular Society." New Perspectives Quarterly 25.4 (2008): 17-29.“A ‘post-secular’ society must at some point have been in a ‘secular’ state. The controversial term can therefore only be applied to the affluent societies of Europe or countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where… More
The Language Game of Responsible Agency and the Problem of Free Will: How Can Epistemic Dualism Be Reconciled with Ontological Monism
– "The Language Game of Responsible Agency and the Problem of Free Will: How Can Epistemic Dualism Be Reconciled with Ontological Monism." in Philosophical Explorations 10.1 (2007): 13-50.In this essay, I address the question of whether the indisputable progress being made by the neurosciences poses a genuine threat to the language game of responsible agency. I begin by situating free will as an ineliminable component of our practices of… More
How to Respond to the Ethical Question
– "How to Respond to the Ethical Question.” in The Derrida-Habermas Reader, edited by Lasse Thomassen, 115-127. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006.Political Communication in Media Society. Does Democracy Still Enjoy an Epistemic Dimension? The Impact of Normative Theory on Empirical Research
– "Political Communication in Media Society. Does Democracy Still Enjoy an Epistemic Dimension? The Impact of Normative Theory on Empirical Research.” Communication Theory 16.4 (2006): 411-426.I first compare the deliberative to the liberal and the republican models of democracy, and consider possible references to empirical research and then examine what empirical evidence there is for the assumption that political deliberation develops a… More
The Moral and the Ethical: A Reconsideration of the Issue of the Priority of the Right over the Good
– "The Moral and the Ethical: A Reconsideration of the Issue of the Priority of the Right over the Good.” In Pragmatism, Critique, Judgment: Essays for Richard J. Bernstein, edited by Seyla Benhabib and Nancy Fraser, 29-43. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2004.After Historicism, Is Metaphysics Still Possible? On Hans-Georg Gadamer’s 100th Birthday
– “After Historicism, Is Metaphysics Still Possible? On Hans-Georg Gadamer's 100th Birthday.” In Gadamer's Repercussions: Reconsidering Philosophical Hermeneutics, 15-54. edited by Bruce Krajewski. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003.February 15, or What Binds Europeans Together
– “February 15, or What Binds Europeans Together.” Constellations 10.3 (2003): 291-297.“We should not forget two dates: not the day the newspapers reported to their astonished readers the Spanish prime minister’s invitation to the other European nations willing to support the Iraq war to swear an oath of loyalty to George W. Bush, an… More
Beyond the Nation State?
– “Beyond the Nation State?” Peace Review 10.2 (1998): 235-239.“Ironically, developed societies at century’s end must confront the return of a problem that they seemed, under the pressure of system rivalry, to have just solved. It is a problem as old as capitalism itself: how to exploit the allocative… More
Coping with Contingencies: The Return of Historicism
– “Coping with Contingencies: The Return of Historicism.” In Debating the State of Philosophy: Habermas, Rorty, and Kolakowski, edited byJósef Niznik and John T. Sanders, 1-30. Westport, CT: Praeger Pub, 1996.Paradigms of Law
– “Paradigms of Law.” Cardozo Law Review 17 (1996): 771-784.Overcoming the Past
– “Overcoming the Past.” New Left Review 203 (1994).Interview with Jurgen Habermas and Adam Michnik.
Human Rights and Popular Sovereignty: The Liberal and Republican Versions
– ”Human Rights and Popular Sovereignty: The Liberal and Republican Versions.” Ratio Juris 7.1 (1994): 1-13.Popular sovereignty and human rights are the modern pillars of legal legitimacy and political power. Liberal and republican thought, however, tend to interpret the two notions from different perspectives: either as moral principles, emphasizing the… More
Notes on the Developmental History of Horkheimer’s Work
– “Notes on the Developmental History of Horkheimer's Work.” Theory, Culture & Society 10.2 (1993): 61-77.Concluding Remarks
– "Concluding Remarks." In Habermas and the Public Sphere, edited by Craig Calhourn, 462-479. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992.An Intersubjectivist Concept of Individuality
– "An Intersubjectivist Concept of Individuality." Journal of Chinese Philosophy 18.2 (1991): 133–141.Twenty Years Later: 1968 & the West German Republic
– “Twenty Years Later: 1968 & the West German Republic." Dissent 36 (1989): 250-256.Towards a Communication-Concept of Rational Collective Will-Formation: A Thought-Experiment
– "Towards a Communication-Concept of Rational Collective Will-Formation: A Thought-Experiment." Ratio Juris 2.2 (1989): 144-154.Contractarian theories are meant to settle the issue of when political authority meets the conditions of rational legitimacy. The author addresses the same issue, but using different premises and a different conceptual frame. He takes as his point of… More
Law and Morality
– "Law and Morality." In The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, Volume VIII, edited by Sterling M. McMurrin, 217-280. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.The Genealogical Writings of History: On Some Aporias in Foucault’s Theory of Power
– “The Genealogical Writings of History: On Some Aporias in Foucault's Theory of Power." Canadian Journal of Political and Social Theory 10.1 (1986): 1-9.The focus of Michel Foucault’s genealogical approach to history is on elimination of hermeneutic concerns & attainment of an objectivistic history. Three limitations of his approach give rise to aporias: its presentism, its relativism, & the… More
Civil Disobedience: Litmus Test for the Democratic Constitutional State
– "Civil Disobedience: Litmus Test for the Democratic Constitutional State." Berkeley Journal of Sociology 30 (1985): 95-116.The French Path to Postmodernity: Bataille Between Eroticism and General Economics
– “The French Path to Postmodernity: Bataille Between Eroticism and General Economics." New German Critique 33 (1984): 79-102.Interpretive Social Science v. Hermeneutics
– "Interpretive Social Science v. Hermeneutics." In Social Science as Moral Inquiry, edited by Norma Hann, Robert N. Bellah, Paul Rabinow, and William M. Sullivan, 251-269. New York: Columbia University Press, 1983.A Reply to my Critics
– “A Reply to my Critics." In Habermas: Critical Debates, edited by John B. Thompson and David Held, 219-283. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1982.The Entwinement of Myth and Enlightenment: Re-Reading ‘Dialectic of Enlightenment’
– “The Entwinement of Myth and Enlightenment: Re-Reading 'Dialectic of Enlightenment'." New German Critique 26 (1982): 13-30.“The dark writers of the bourgeoisie – such as Machiavelli, Hobbes and Mandeville – had always appealed to Horkheimer, who was himself influenced by Schopenhauer. Clearly, from their works there still remained ties to Marx’s social… More
Talcott Parsons: Problems of Theory Construction
– "Talcott Parson: Problems of Theory Construction." Sociological Inquiry 51.3 (1981): 173–196.According to Professor Habermas, Parsons’s later system paradigm is in conflict, to some extent, with his earlier action paradigm, as Menzies contended; but Parsons concealed the conflicts from himself, Habermas thinks, and retained his “cultural… More
Response to the Commentary of Richard Bernstein and Kenley Dove
– "Response to the Commentary of Richard Bernstein and Kenley Dove." In Hegel's Social and Political Thought: The Philosophy of Objective Spirit, edited by Donald Philip Verene, 247-250. New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1980.Psychic Thermidor and the Rebirth of Rebellious Subjectivity
– "Psychic Thermidor and the Rebirth of Rebellious Subjectivity." Berkeley Journal of Sociology 24 (1980): pp. 1-12.Letter to Tito
– Ayer, Alfred J., Noam Chomsky, Robert S. Cohen, Dagfinn Follesdal, and Juergen Habermas, et al. "Letter to Tito." The New York Review of Books. February 6, 1975.“Dear Marshal Tito, The international community of scholars and scientists feels increasingly concerned about the news of repressive measures against intellectuals and attempts to curtail academic freedom in Yugoslavia. Particularly shocking is the… More
Habermas Talking: An Interview
– "Habermas Talking: An Interview" Theory and Society 1.1 (1974) 37-58.What Does a Crisis Mean Today? Legitimation Problems in Late Capitalism
– "What Does a Crisis Mean Today? Legitimation Problems in Late Capitalism." Social Research 40.4 (1973): 643-667.Towards a Theory of Communicative Competence
– "Towards a Theory of Communicative Competence." Inquiry 13.4 (1970): 360-375.In this, the second of two articles outlining a theory of communicative competence, the author questions the ability of Chomsky’s account of linguistic competence to fulfil the requirements of such a theory. ‘Linguistic competence’ for Chomsky means… More
On Systematically Distorted Communication
– "On Systematically Distorted Communication." Inquiry 13.3 (1970) 205-218.In this, the first of two articles outlining a theory of communicative competence, the author shows how the requirements of such a theory are to be found in an analysis not of the linguistic competence of a native speaker, but of systematic distortion of… More