On the Pragmatics of Communication

By Jürgen Habermas and Habermas

Book Overview

This volume brings together Habermas's key writings on language andcommunication. Including some classic texts as well as new materialwhich is published here for the first time, this book is a detailedand up-to-date introduction to Habermas's formal pragmatics, whichis a vital aspect of his social theory.

Written from 1976 to 1996, the essays show the extent to whichformal pragmatics underpins Habermas's theory of communicativeaction. They are presented in chronological order, so that thereader can trace developments and revisions in Habermas's thought.The volume includes a critical discussion of Searle's theory ofmeaning, and Richard Rorty's neopragmatism. It concludes withHabermas's recent defence of his theory of communicative action, inwhich he reaffirms his view that interpretative understandinginescapably involves evaluation.

This book will be an indispensable text for students and academicswho want a clear and accessible introduction to the development ofHabermas's theory of communication and its relation to his broadersocial and political theory.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0745630472
• ISBN13: 9780745630472
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Polity Press
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"