Habermas: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Paperback]

J rgen Habermas is the most renowned living German philosopher. This book aims to give a clear and readable overview of his philosophical work. It analyzes both the theoretical underpinnings of Habermas's social theory, and its more concrete applications in the fields of ethics, politics, and law. Finally, it examines how Habermas's social and political theory informs his writing on real, current political and social problems. The author explores Habermas's influence on a wide variety of fields--including philosophy, political and social theory, cultural studies, sociology, and literary studies. He uses a problem-based approach to explain how Habermas's ideas can be applied to actual social and political situations. The book also includes a glossary of technical terms to further acquaint the reader with Habermas's philosophy. Unlike other writing on Habermas, this Introduction is accessibly written and explains his intellectual framework and technical vocabulary, rather than simply adopting it.

James Gordon Finlayson is a lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sussex, and was previously Lecturer in Post-Kantian European Philosophy at York University. He has published widely on Habermas, and contributed to Habermas: A Critical Reader (Blackwell). He is the author of a forthcoming monograph on problems in Habermas's Discourse Ethics.