Summary
Habermas's "Moral Consciousness and Communicative Action" argues that moral norms can be impartially judged through a procedure of reasoned agreement among participants in practical discourse, replacing Kant's categorical imperative. This "discourse ethics" reconstructs a moral point of view from which normative claims can be assessed. The book connects communicative ethics to the theory of social action by examining research in social psychology concerning moral and interpersonal development. Habermas asserts that fundamental moral intuitions arise not from tradition but from universal normative presuppositions inherent in social interaction for competent agents across any society.
This interdisciplinary work, spanning social sciences, philosophy, and ethics, explicates the foundational role of communicative action in shaping moral consciousness. By linking moral and personal development to the underlying structure of social interaction, the book posits that shared, universal normative presuppositions are essential for competent agency. Readers gain insight into how reasoned agreement, rather than fixed moral rules, provides a procedure for justifying norms and understanding the universality of moral intuitions.
Key concepts
- Discourse ethics — A theory that reconstructs a moral point of view for impartially judging normative claims through reasoned agreement.
- Procedure of justification — A method of validating normative claims based on reasoned agreement among participants in practical discourse.
- Normative presuppositions of social interaction — Universal requirements for social interaction that are part of competent agents' repertoire in any society.
- Communicative action — The theory that examines how communication and understanding form the basis of social action and moral norms.
From the book
Description: This long-awaited book sets out the implications of Habermas's theory of communicative action for moral theory. "Discourse ethics" attempts to reconstruct a moral point of view from which normative claims can be impartially judged. The theory of justice it develops replaces Kant's categorical imperative with a procedure of justification based on reasoned agreement among participants in practical discourse.Habermas connects communicative ethics to the theory of social action via an examination of research in the social psychology of moral and interpersonal development. He aims to show that our basic moral intuitions spring from something deeper and more universal than contingent features of our tradition, namely from normative presuppositions of social interaction that belong…
Description: The sequel to "Theory of Communicative Action", this is an interdisciplinary work, covering the social sciences, philosophy and ethics. It connects communicative ethics to the theory of social action via an examination of research in the social psychology of moral and personal development.
Snippet: The sequel to "Theory of Communicative Action", this is an interdisciplinary work, covering the social sciences, philosophy and ethics.