Verovsek, P. orcid.org/0000-0001-8946-2014 (2022) Jürgen Habermas and the public intellectual in modern democratic life. Philosophy Compass, 17 (4). e12818. ISSN 1747-9991
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of Jürgen Habermas's writings as a public intellectual and relates this work to recent debates about the proper relationship of theory to practice. In addition to being one of the most influential continental philosophers of the postwar era, Habermas is also the leading public intellectual of the Federal Republic of Germany and increasingly of the European Union as well. Unfortunately, his political writings have not received the attention they deserve. As a result, he is often misconstrued as an ideal theorist who is both ignorant of and apathetic toward ‘real’ politics. By showing how his philosophy relates to his political engagement, I present Habermas as a model for how the philosopher can apply theoretical insights to political developments in an indirect, mediated manner that focuses on debates within the democratic public sphere. This approach has distinct advantages when compared to active participation in the policymaking process and the direct application of philosophy to political practice, both of which threaten the principle of democratic equality in the public sphere.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. Philosophy Compass published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Jürgen Habermas; Public Intellectuals; Realism; Public Philosophy; Democratic Underlabouring; Public Sphere; Theory and Practice |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Politics and International Relations (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number BRITISH ACADEMY (THE) MD19\190002 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 23 Feb 2022 13:13 |
Last Modified: | 13 Feb 2023 12:33 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/phc3.12818 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:183603 |