Book Description
This is Jurgen Habermas's most concrete historical-sociological book and one of the key contributions to political thought in the postwar period. It will be a revelation to those who have known Habermas only through his theoretical writing to find his later interests in problems of legitimation and communication foreshadowed in this lucid study of the origins, nature, and evolution of public opinion in democratic societies.
Customer Reviews:
Indispensable for Understanding Contemporary Culture.......2007-08-10
Okay, perhaps I've got the social-theory-geek gene, but when I first read this book some fourteen years ago (during grad school), I was able finally to put together a lot of things that had been swimming around in my brain. I'd already read a good bit of Adorno before a professor (with whom I was doing an independent study on Adorno) recommended that I read this. Habermas's historical analysis was so compelling that I simply couldn't put the book down. Moreover (all this may seem hard to believe), the lucidity of his presentation also helped me put a lot of what was going on in Adorno's writings in a clearer light.
While I don't agree with the directions in which Habermas later went--I strongly resist the notion of recuperating the modern project--this book provides a compelling analysis of how Western society and culture got to where it is now.
Habermas: The Public in History.......2005-09-17
In this monograph, Habermas tracks the origination, the evolution, and the dispersal of an informed "public sphere" among democratic Western nations. He defines public sphere as "private people com[ing] together as a public" (27). Once these individuals, gathered as reading groups or as aficionados of theatre, the arts, and politics, the individuals melded into a public capable of debating the government. Habermas locates these fledgling "publics" primarily in eighteenth-century France, England and to a lesser extent in the areas of Europe designated as German. Tellingly, Habermas strongly links the formation of the public sphere with the rise of capitalism and a continuing bourgeois revolution. Comprised of literate individuals governed by the principals of the Enlightenment, these "publics" eventually challenged the validity and legitimacy of governments, most notably in France during the French Revolution and England during the English Civil War.
Habermas builds a compelling argument based upon his interpretation of Rousseau, Kant, Locke, Hegel, and Marx. He links the works of these philosophers and sociologists in a credible chain stretching back to the eighteenth century. However, he only deals thoroughly with the educated, propertied elite of society. Habermas views the "unpropertied" and illiterate as a separate from and incapable of participating in a true public sphere. To do this he must dismiss a plethora of lower class uprisings found throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Even when the various governments quickly quashed these rebellions, the Ludites in England and the various rebellions of 1848 come to mind, it is difficult to dispute the effect these rebels and rebellions had upon the public discourse. As an early work on the subject, it is almost certain that Habermas had to amend his arguments following E.P. Thompson's The Making of the English Working Class, published in 1963 a scant year after this work. His exclusion of the great press of society from a functioning public sphere seems arrogant at best and naïve at worst.
One of the most influential studies on the subject.......2004-11-01
Habermas' work, though written more than four decades ago, still retains most of its original relevance for the study of the public sphere. If you are interested in this subject, and if you are into critical thinking, then this book is certainly worth reading. Why? Well, if you take in consideration the fact that no other book has been written so far on the subject that has been able to surpass Habermas' account both in depth and originality, then you begin to get my point. As to a critical reading of the argument put forth by Habermas, one should read "Habermas and the Public Sphere", edited by Craig Calhoun. This book includes an appendix by Habermas where he revises some of his original positions.
The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere.......2002-04-04
When you talk about the public sphere in front of intellectuals, Jürgen Habermas's name is bound to come up. Habermas's 1962 study, "The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere," examines the creation, brief flourishing, and demise of a public sphere based in rational-critical debate and discussion. The feasibility of a true public sphere, which is inclusive of anyone who would participate, is for Habermas of utmost importance. Habermas follows a methodology similar to the one Michel Foucault takes in "Discipline and Punish," which analyzes the abolition of public displays of power, and the process by which the structures of power are inculcated in the individual from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Habermas analyzes historical, economic, and political conditions from classical antiquity through his own historical moment, tracing the circumstances in which the public sphere arises, how it functions, and ceases to function over time.
Habermas begins with a delineation of the terms 'public' and 'private,' orienting them philologically from their roots and meanings in classical antiquity. From here, he traces the adoption of the words and their synonyms into the European Middle Ages and the era of feudalism. Habermas says that in this period, the feudal lord and the monarch, for whom `representative publicness' functioned as a display of power before their subjects, dominated the public. Authority figures embodied virtues and powers in a public fashion. Public representation of political and economic power continued, unabated until the Reformation, at which time, the privatization of religious faith signaled a separation between society and the state. Economically, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the spread of trade necessitated the spread of news from various locales. As news outside of the home became relevant to home economy, the private individual begins to take an interest in public events. Consolidation of 'national' financial administration and state-controlled taxation, along with the rise of print culture, facilitated the dissemination of news, initially in the form of governmental decrees, market conditions, and happenings at court. Through this, the actions of the authorities came under the scrutiny of a reading public.
The 18th century is the key moment for Habermas. In this period, the government, along with private individuals, made use of the press, for the first time, in persuasive appeal to a public made up of private people. The press now presented the public with information, with which they were to use reason and discussion to determine what was in the public's interest. Habermas emphasizes the theoretical parity that this brings about - the rise of the coffee houses and salons, in which merchants met with gentility and engaged in rational-critical debate over issues of public import. Stretching this into the realm of the franchise, Habermas is careful to point out the problematics of a situation in which actual decision-making was restricted to those with money and land, but stresses that the opportunity for anyone to acquire these prerequisites was, again, theoretically, open to all.
For a brief time during the 18th century, Habermas sees the flourishing of a public sphere, born out of a reading public, that began to interact with the processes of public policy, legally, and morally. The purpose of this public sphere, according to Habermas, is to eliminate the domination of authoritative power, and establishing a government that is actually representative of the public will and contingent upon public opinion. Unfortunately, in the 19th century, with the stratification of party politics, the proliferating press encouraged less rational-critical discussion. Increasingly, debate moved into parliamentary circles, and the public was asked only to approve of party measures, not participate in the formation of the rules that governed them. In the 20th century, along with the creation of the welfare-state, consolidation of moneyed interests, and the expansion of universal suffrage (ironically), the public sphere disintegrated even further. New media - radio, television, etc. - turned its addresses to the public into mere advertising. Even the illusion of a private people engaged, as a public, in matters of their own governance, was gone, and the public became vessels for mass media.
To recuperate a true participatory public sphere, Habermas takes a guarded approach. He indicates that some kind of elite could be formed. These private individuals would undertake the responsibility of rational-critical debate, determining the public interest. The general public, then, would give their approval or disapproval to the measures decided on by this elite. This is kind of a bleak outlook, and one I don't much care for myself. Of course, this is a horribly limited review of Habermas's "Structural Transformation". I haven't even noted the break he takes to outline the historical-philosophical evaluation and critique of the public sphere by Kant, Hegel, Marx, Mill, and Tocqueville. Nor did I note the extensive use Habermas makes of political and economic changes in his key nations - England, France, and Germany - and the contributions these make to the disintegration of the public sphere. At any rate, "Structural Transformation" is an exhaustive (and exhausting) study, as relevant now to the study of literature, economics, government, history, etc., especially of the last three centuries, as it ever was. Even though it is a pain to read, you'll be glad you finally read it. Think of it as theoretical medicine - it may not taste good, but in the long run, it's good for you.
Habermas puts me to sleep.......2000-07-23
... This is Habermas' dissertation, but his writing is so poor, in English or in German, that it really doesn' matter. The book is a response, in my opinion, to Carl Schmitt, and specifically to Schmitt's argument that the core of liberal democracy is debate in parliament, that liberal democracy is rule by discussion (or, as its called now, "political discourse"), but that that discussion is now more real than painted flames on a radiator. Liberal democracy is in fact the triumph of aliberal, private, hidden powers, who rule from the shadows and through the true organs of power, the media, and through the hidden power of the private vote cast in the illicit privacy of the voting booth, where the bourgeois individual is free to exercise his worst prejudices and basest motives. So argues Schmitt. Habermas gives an interesting historical account of the rise of "Offentlichkeit" (which translates into the all-too-easy abstraction "public sphere," whatever that is), from the letters passed in the mail relating the news from town to town, to French salons, to newspapers, to television and radio. Habermas, like Schmitt, seeks to unmask the illiberal powers lurking behind the good liberal prejudices, but he, like Schmitt, mistakes liberalism for a debating society when in fact it is much more sophisticated than that. Habermas needs to read the Federalist Papers and the debates (!) at the constitutional convention to understand how little the founders of one liberal democracy thought of the power of discussion.
Customer Reviews:
Grab your shovel were digging into History.......2007-09-20
I read this to get a broader prospective of the historical evidences for Jesus after reading Case for Christ. Several of the points are repeated, however the depth of analysis from a professionally historic analysis was invaluable. It is not a engaging read as something for entertainment or a casual read. I goes deep into the authentic historical artifacts citing specific evidences that support the existence of Jesus and the character that is described through the Bible. I recommend reading this with a hi lighter or tabs to be able to refer back to material throughout this read, it is definitely something I will come back to for reference.
Jesus Who?.......2007-03-08
Haabermas is the Master when it comes to presenting verifiable evidence for the proof of the Resurrection. Ask yourself, "what if Jesus is real? What if He did come back to life?" This book lays it out definitively--No way you can escape this. Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus is presented in a very detailed and resonable format. The evidence speaks for itself. It's like the phrase "he cast out demons with the Devil's Power". They didn't say he DIDN'T cast out demons, they just attributed Jesus' power to the dark side. They had the evidence right in front of them. Lazarus was alive and could be questioned. Who covered up for the Roman Guards? How was Saul changed into Paul, the completely transformed former killer of christians? What changed his mind? People do not die for a lie or the perception of a lie. The disciples that saw Jesus Resurrected had no mass hallucination, delusion or craziness. Jesus did die and came back to life. Powerful evidence stated in very no nonsense, verifiable words. You really have to ask yourself, "Is Jesus really alive?" Yep.
Very impressive, although not exhaustive.......2006-12-28
Any Christian apologist can ascertain something useful from Gary Habermas's "The Historical Jesus," even if this work is not the most exhaustive search for the life of Christ. The truth is I have not yet discovered the ultimate apologetic resource, one that encompasses everything a Christian convert (or atheistic skeptic) needs to affirm the religion that has drawn wildfire over the last 2,000 years. However, "The Historical Jesus," using impeccable logic and ancient creeds and writings, efficiently refutes the Jesus Seminar, the Gnostic promoters, and the dissenters of the crucifixion and resurrection. Habermas's material and his command of the facts are extremely impressive, but not overly extensive or thorough. Not surprisingly, the whole of Christianity comes to down to a monumental act of faith. A lot of evidence can help lead you in the right direction, but it cannot make a decision for you.
Still, "The Historical Jesus" offers plenty of corroborating evidence for the New Testament as accurate sources gleaned from eyewitness testimony. Despite recent attempts by Bart Ehrman and the members of the Jesus Seminar to rewrite the Gospels as `unreliable' poppycock, Habermas reveals how perfectly `reliable' the Gospel and New Testament accounts really are. "The Historical Jesus" does a much better job at defending the Christian faith than Lee Strobe's "Case for Christ" (which, ironically, was a book that featured Habermas as a guest interviewee).
I was somewhat disappointed at the shortness of the book. I am sure more exhaustive accounts are swirling around out there these days (this book was published in 1996), but "The Historical Jesus" is not it. However, no one can read this book and not pick up a few interesting and worthwhile tidbits regarding the New Testament and Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection. It all, ultimately, comes down to faith.
A Must Read for Christology Students!.......2006-11-29
I read this book about a year ago and I've started rereading it because once is not enough. Dr. Habermas' book is an essential work that should be required for those studying the person of Jesus Christ. Habermas does an excellent job presenting opposing view points and providing answers for those who challenge the Biblical Christ. I feel he makes a very strong case for the historicity of Jesus Christ in opposition to the "findings" of the Jesus Seminar and other critics.
One issue needs to be addressed though. Habermas does a good job of using St. James the "Brother of Jesus" in support of the Historicity of Christ, however it must be clarified that St. James was not an actual Brother of Christ. Our Lady was a perpetual virgin. This truth is an ancient Tradition alluded to in Scripture, made explicit in the mid-second century through the non-canonical "Protoevangelium of James," and echoed by St. Athanasius in the fourth century in his "Discourses Against the Arians" where he explicitly gives Mary the title "Ever Virgin." Subsequent Church councils, like the ones that affimed Christ's Divinity and the Canon of Scripture, affirmed Mary's Virginity.
So what about the use of the word Brother, and sister, in reference to Christ? Well, Tradition holds that St. Joseph was a widower who already had children when he became the steward of Mary. So St. James may have been a Step Brother, which makes sense since Christ entrusted Mary to St. John at the foot of the cross rather than his brother. Further, St. Jerome argued in the Fourth Century that St. James and the other mentioned siblings may have been cousins since the word cousin did not exist in Aramaic. Your cousins were refered to as your brothers and sisters. Either way, the use of St, James as a reliable source is not deminished. One just needs to get all the facts as straight as possible.
All in all, this is a very informative book which needs to be read by any educated Christian. Though as Habermas himself admits, supplements in defense of Scripture are absolutely necessary. I highly recommend "The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?" by F.F. Bruce and "The Historical Reliability of the Gospels" by Craig Blomberg. Further, one should also read "The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus" by Habermas and newcomer Michael Licona immediately following this book, as well as the recently published "Reinventing Jesus" J. Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace, for a well rounded view of the Historical Jesus.
An apologist I actually like.......2006-11-24
Let me start out with a confession; I do not like Christian apologists. This is not to say that all Christian apologists are bad, but the most popular method in apologetics is either "explaining away" details, or making excuses for the things in Christianity that don't add up or that we don't like.
Ironically however, I discovered Gary Habermas in an apologetic book that I did not like; Lee Strobels "The Case for Christ". In Strobel's book we have typical apologetic excuse makers that take superficial observations and then try to explain them away, for example, the explanation that it was possible for Jesus to go into Galilee, and out of Galilee at the same time (I'm not kidding, this really is an apologetic argument). Apologetics are usually nothing more than starting out with an opinion and then looking for evidence that supports it, or looking at arguments and then manipulating the details to explain them away. In a nut shell, I have never found apologetics to be neither useful, nor helpful to any case Christians may have to make.
My point is this, in the entirety of Strobels "The Case for Christ"; only one interview actually got my attention, the Habermas interview. His argument was so reasoned and so compelling that it inspired me to read this book, and I have been a fan of Habermas ever since. If there is one apologist that all others should look to for guidance, it's Habermas. Unlike most apologists who work with none but superficial details of the bible, Habermas actually conducts a critical analysis of the data contained within. He studies history, works out how it all fits together, and then forms a supportive argument. I have read many books stating many cases for the truth of a historical Jesus, and this is by far the best.
Habermas lays it all out in front of us. The best arguments against a historical Jesus, the naturalistic interpretations of the resurrection, and how all of these theories have failed over the years. There is no "explaining it all away" in this book, it's all based on logic and hard data. If the field of Christian apologetics is going to evolve into something useful, there is no better man to look to than Habermas to make that happen. It is well worth a read, to say the least.
Book Description
Two of the worlds great contemporary thinkers--theologian and churchman Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and Jurgen Habermas, philosopher and Neo-Marxist social critic--discuss and debate aspects of secularization, and the role of reason and religion in a free society. These insightful essays are the result of a remarkable dialogue between the two men, sponsored by the Catholic Academy of Bavaria, a little over a year before Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope.
Jurgen Habermas has surprised many observers with his call for "the secular society to acquire a new understanding of religious convictions", as Florian Schuller, director of the Catholic Academy of Bavaria, describes it his foreword. Habermas discusses whether secular reason provides sufficient grounds for a democratic constitutional state. Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI argues for the necessity of certain moral principles for maintaining a free state, and for the importance of genuine reason and authentic religion, rather than what he calls "pathologies of reason and religion", in order to uphold the states moral foundations. Both men insist that proponents of secular reason and religious conviction should learn from each other, even as they differ over the particular ways that mutual learning should occur.
Customer Reviews:
Rational faith.......2007-07-20
Reading this book requires a concentrated level of attentive reading. It is a great argument for a rational approach to the adoption of any belief system. Faith without reason is blind and capricious.
Heavy Philosophy & A Call to Conscience.......2007-05-30
Undoubtedly, these authors are the gold standard in their respective arena. The first is a Kant-based neo Marxist and the latter a theologian steeped in Augustine and leader of the Catholic world.
If you are in search of a page-turner with a climatic ending, keep looking. Otherwise, this is a smartly presented text divided into a chapter for each speaker who makes their case with calculated passion. The reader without a basic foundation for philosophy may find this one a bit over the top. If not, the book is succinct and delves into man's reason and existence in contemporary times.
In the end, the book achieves its intention. If it was meant to leave the reader undecided-it failed. However, this is not the case as one cannot continue to remind ones self that one chapter reinforces a philosophy that has been tried and exhausted within a century and another that has been tested two millennia and beyond. Both make their cases on man, politics, religion and our state of the world; however, it is clear which rings with hope, love and idealism.
Debating the place of Religion in Society.......2007-04-15
Habermas and Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) are two of the greatest minds of their times. This short work is their take on the interctions of democratic culture, political liberalism, religion and God. These two separate essays are the summation of a discussion between these two men. They were written well after the conversation had taken place and so ovbiously they're a little less satisfying than if we were able to read a transcript of the conversation, or perhaps response papers written immediately thereafter. However these are still two excellent essays, written by two brilliant men, who give the reader much to ponder about the current state of modern life.
Without LOGOS "the Center will not hold"..........2007-04-07
Jurgen Habermas is a Neo-Marxist and born-again Kantian.Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is Pope Benedict XVI. Habermas despite twisting,turning and equivocation implying his variation on The CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE can sustain democratic Institutions(& ontological,ethical,epistemological,and even aesthetic underpinings)reluctantly admits LOGOS(subsistent,
metaphysical guaranteer of Being,Truth & Justice~ie God)is sine qua non for survival of Democratic West. Cardinal Ratzinger,a neo-Thomistic Aristotelian,now preeminent dogmatic Catholic theologian in the West,
echoes and expatiates on this admission as both warning and counsel to radical secularists~ Without LOGOS,"The Center will not hold"(Yeats):
Totalitarianism(451"benevolent"; die technik/Heideggerian material;or brutal Orwellian)is inevitable....
The virtue of this book is clarity and indisputable authority of its spokesmen. Take and read.
The Dialectics of Secularization: On Reason and Religion.......2007-04-05
Both chapters are excellent. However, there is not a kind a debate where one lecture is coordinated with the other. It looks to me that they belong to different events.
Any way, ideas from both authors are to be analysed in deep due to the significance of the concepts about God's role in society.
Book Description
"A phenomenal resource that is both user-friendly and up-to-date, [and will] equip believers to defend this crucial issue." --Josh McDowell. Includes an interactive CD in a game-show format to test your memory of the key issues and concepts.
Customer Reviews:
Biased and worthless.......2007-08-21
Many things that Habermas presume as true concerning, for instance, the idea that most scholars regard the "empty tomb" as a fact of history, are simply false. Scholars are not nearly so unified on accepting many of the premises assumed. He presumes so many facts told us by the bible that he might as well just say "Jesus is risen because the bible says so" and save us some time and money.
For reasons why the resurrection is not supported by history, and for other challenges to fundamentalist Christianity, see the writings by Robert Price or Michael Tenenbaum on the matter.
The Best Single Volume for Beginners.......2007-08-17
In The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Gary Habermas and his protégé Michael Licona have produced an amazing resource for presenting and defending the historic Christian faith. Case for the Resurrection presents Habermas's "minimal facts" approach to arguing for the resurrection of Christ - a method that avoids appealing to sources that only Christians would find compelling. To encourage readers to really assimilate the material, a quality video game is included on a CD-ROM in the back of the book.
It is divided into four parts. Part One is an introduction to the whole book that explains why Christ's resurrection is so important, gives an overview of the historical method, and previews the main points that will be discussed. Part Two delivers the minimal facts approach itself (see below). Part Three demonstrates how the approach can be used to handle common objections to Christ's resurrection. Part Four compliments part three by including many secondary objections that might be brought up, as well as a section on people skills. Nearly one third of the book awaits, however, as the main body is followed up by a series of sample conversations, an outline of the entire approach in (this alone is worth the price of the book), extensive notes, and a bibliography.
The book's strengths are many. The minimal facts approach "considers only those facts that are both strongly supported by evidence and are conceded by almost every scholar, even those who are skeptical" (p. 220). There are five facts brought to bear on the issue: (1) Jesus died by crucifixion, (2) Jesus' disciples believed that he rose and appeared to them, (3) the church persecutor Paul was suddenly changed, (4) the skeptic James (brother of Jesus) was suddenly changed, and (5) the tomb was empty. The authors note that point five is not technically a minimal fact because it only has about 75% acceptance by scholars rather than the vast majority required by the others, but there is enough evidence and agreement to include it anyway. Each of these is given plenty of supporting arguments and evidence.
The evidence and arguments are presented in an easily understood manner, even for the layperson. Memory aids are found throughout in the form of helpful acronyms, graphics, and summaries. These permeate the book to such an extent that even a cursory glance will deliver more useful information than an average Sunday school class. The writing is casual and friendly, which serves as a constant reminder that this is how the authors intend the material to be used. More than most apologetics texts, the authors show a great concern for the manner in which this information is communicated - they often stress the need for listening and responding to the objector's points without simply bulldozing them with facts.
I was not really planning on reviewing the CD-ROM game included with the book because I assumed it to be a mere add-on for promotional purposes, but to the degree that I expected this I was completely wrong. The game is actually a high quality trivia game with a humorous "host" who encourages the player (sometimes through playful ridicule) as he goes through the game. It was quite entertaining and really lets the reader objectively evaluate how well they truly grasp the material.
Case's weaknesses are few and minor. The book is entry-level without appearing "dumbed down" and so some of the more difficult scholarly objections were handled rather cursorily, but to offer much more would have weighed the book down. Further, the notes and bibliography can point the reader to more detailed refutations. There is quite a bit of repetition that was appreciated for aiding the memory and driving home how well the minimal facts approach can be used in numerous situations, but it could have been lightened considerably and still served its purpose. The weakest section of the book was chapter eleven which dealt with God's existence. It comes in section four (secondary issues) because it is not a direct objection to the resurrection itself, and is treated only briefly (less than ten pages), offering only two arguments (intelligent design and first cause). Both arguments use primarily scientific data for support rather than the considerably more powerful philosophical versions of the arguments, and many classical arguments are not mentioned at all. (Unlike, for example, William Lane Craig - another debate heavyweight - who uses the same basic evidential method when dealing with the resurrection, but includes the powerful Kalam cosmological argument for God's existence - supported by both scientific and philosophical evidence - in his overall case). Due to the evidential nature of the book (which reflects Habermas's apologetic methodology) this was not necessarily unexpected, but as an "armchair editor" I would have had that chapter expanded - possibly into a more robust appendix.
If there is a second edition, (or, better, a sequel!), more space should be devoted to theories being expounded in recent books like The Empty tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave (Robert Price and Jeffery Jay Lowder, eds.), and ideas being promoted by other up-and-coming critics like Richard Carrier who has taken up the "spiritual resurrection" gauntlet. While some of these theories are briefly dealt with in Case for the Resurrection (and more thoroughly refuted in other works such as Norman Geisler's The Battle for the Resurrection: Updated Edition and N. T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God)) they will become less "academic" and more "popular" as the internet continues to close the gap between the two.
Good for laymen.......2007-06-13
I've been working on writing a speech for the resurrection. I've heard Gary Habermas speak on multiple occasions and I looked forward to getting this book.
This book has been very resourceful. However, for the striving apologist I would suggest picking up a book of a higher level. Habermas and Liocina are both evangelicals and they present their argument in that manner. For the striving apologist, I think Craig's arguments and Swinburn's arguments are some of the best for a general study of the resurrection. But, like I said, this book is resourceful as well. Aside from presenting their argument in a very evangelical way, they provide a lot of background information and other scholarly materials in their "Endnotes" section.
This is a good introductory book to the resurrection just as The Case for a Creator (Lee Strobel) is a good introductory book to intelligent design. There are however, essays, even books written on almost every single page covered in the The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus.
Wow! Great research........2007-05-26
From a historical point of view, Habermas does an exceptional job of conducting research and then distilling it down into a very readable format. He does it so well, in fact, that anyone who has never been through genuine historical research wouldn't have a clue what went in to this book. This was extroardinarily researched and then whittled down to perfection due to Habermas' constant tour of the debate circuit. This guy has been to some serious college campuses (i.e. Duke and the like) and NO ONE will challenge him on the historicity of the Resurrection. Pretty cool. Worth your time to read.
Very informative! .......2007-03-22
This is a great book. It's broken down well and easy to read. The endnotes contain even more information if you want to go deeper. After reading this book you can't help but proclaim, "Jesus Lives!"
Book Description
"One of the broadest, most comprehensive, elaborate and intensely theoretical works in social theory. Social theory and philosophy may never be the same again." (Philosophy and Social Criticism)
Customer Reviews:
The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 2.......2001-02-14
This is the second volume of the two that constitute "The Theory of Communicative Action" (the first volume subtitle is "Reason and the Rationalization of Society"). The first volume was published in English in 1984, while the second volume appeared in 1987. The two volumes are not independent books and should be read as a single book. See review of the two volumes in "The Theory of Communicative Action: Reason and the Rationalization of Society" (v. 1).
See review for the two volumes: The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 1: Reason and the Rationalization of Society (The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol1)
Book Description
'Make no mistake, the normative authority of the United States of America lies in ruins': such is the judgement of the most influential thinker in Europe today reflecting on the political repercussions of the war in Iraq. The decision to go to war in Iraq, without the explicit backing of a Security Council resolution, opened up a deep fissure in the West which continues to divide erstwhile allies and to hinder the attempt to develop a coordinated response to the new threats posed by international terrorism.In this timely and important volume J ürgen Habermas responds to the dramatic political events of the period since 9/11 and maps out a way to move the political agenda forward, beyond the acrimonious debates which have pitched opponents of the war against the Bush Administration and its 'coalition of the willing'. What is fundamentally at stake, argues Habermas, is the Kantian project of abolishing the state of nature between states. Habermas develops a detailed multidimensional model of transnational and supranational governance inspired by Kantian cosmopolitanism, situates it in the context of the evolution of international law towards a cosmopolitan constitutional order during the 19th and 20th centuries, and defends it against the new challenge posed by the 'hegemonic liberal' vision underlying the aggressive unilateralism of the current US administration.The Divided West is a major intervention by one of the most highly regarded political thinkers of our time. It will be essential reading for students of sociology, politics, international relations and international law, and it will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the current and future course of European and international politics.
Book Description
Since its appearance in English translation in 1996, Jürgen Habermas's Between Facts and Norms has become the focus of a productive dialogue between German and Anglo-American legal and political theorists. The present volume contains ten essays that provide an overview of Habermas's political thought since the original appearance of Between Facts and Norms in 1992 and extend his model of deliberative democracy in novel ways to issues untreated in the earlier work.
Habermas's theory of democracy has at least three features that set it apart from competing positions. First, it combines a concern with questions of normative justification with an empirical analysis of the social conditions necessary for the realization of democratic institutions. Second, at the heart of his model is the assertion of an internal relationship between liberalism and democracy. Finally, Habermas defends a conception of universal human rights that is not only sensitive to cultural differences but also calls for legal and political institutions that facilitate the cultivation of cultural and religious identities within pluralistic societies.
These essays demonstrate the extraordinary power of Habermas's theory of democracy through a further engagement with Rawls's political liberalism and through original contributions to current debates over nationalism, multiculturalism, and the viability of supranational political institutions.
Customer Reviews:
INCLUDING DEMOCRACY.......2000-03-26
After his major work on legal theory (Between Facts and Norms), Jürgen Habermas revisits some of the hottest issues on metaethics, political theory and moral philosophy. The book is nicely divided in five parts. The first is the most specialized one. Habermas offers an exciting contribution to metaethics. As readers might know, most disputes in contemporary metaethics revolve around the question whether we could find a cognitive basis for "first principles" or "values", or what is the same, whether there is an objective ground for things like human rights and principles like those of liberty and equality. By means of reflecting on his discursive ethics (the main insight of which is that standards of right are to be related to the necessary assumptions which we make each and every time we enter into discourses concerning practical questions, like that all those with which we talk could contribute something to the issue at stake), Habermas puts forwards a convincing case for a moderate cognitivism, or what is the same, for an objective foundation. This implies moving beyond the relativism characteristic of much liberal thinking. Specialized readers will be interested in confronting Habermas' argument with that of Alexy, and will find the chapter an expansion of his 1997 article on the Aristotelian Society Proceedings. The second part contains two chapters, devoted to one of the major events in contemporary political thinking: the lectures in which John Rawls (author of the world-known Theory of Justice, second edition published in September 1999) and Jürgen Habermas revisited the work of each other. Habermas stresses the similarities of his and Rawls' theory, but stresses the dialogical conception of his theory of justice, vis a vis the monological character of the well-known Rawlsian original position. The third part is an essential reading for all those interested in globalisation. Habermas offers his insights on the process of European integration. The articles there included reflect his commitment to the further development of the Communities, based both in his own fear of an isolated Germany and his hope for extending solidarity beyond nation-states. Specialized readers will find specially interesting his new insights on the cement of liberal post-nationalistic societies, what Habermas himself labeled as "constitutional patriotism". The fourth part contains Habermas contributions with the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Kant's pamphlet "Towards Perpetual Peace", a major statement in favor of cosmopolitan democracy. Habermas takes the opportunity to challenge realists, that is, those claiming that international relations are mainly a matter of force and deception (the like of Carl Schmitt, a favorite target of his criticisms). The fifth and last part deals with the expanding number of writers who adhere to deliberative democracy as the legitimate political arrangement (like Joshua Cohen and Seyla Benhabib, to quote some names). Habermas makes a nice analysis of the main trends and implications of this line of argumentation, which basically aims at transcending majoritarian politics and reinforcing the effective participation of citizens in politics. The Inclusion of the Other is especially recommended to all those interested in having a taste of the work of Habermas but who were deterred by the complicated prose of Continental Philosophers. The book is clearly written and crisply translated. Habermas himself supervises the English translation of his books. A colleague from Germany told me that she preferred reading him in English because the texts were always more rich and complete than in the original edition!
Book Description
"The THEORY OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTION represents a major contribution to contemporary social theory. Not only does it provide a compelling critique of some of the main perspectives in 20th century philosophy and social science, but it also presents a systematic synthesis of the many themse which have preoccupied Habermas for thirty years." (Times Literary Supplement)
Customer Reviews:
"monster work".......2004-04-17
it took me 1.5 years to read this book and to make an attempt to understand it in its whole power and beauty.
Real contribution to social theory, a great synthesis...
But for ordinary readers there are two ways to approach this book:
1.to undertand the main idea, but even it in only 20-30%
2. to penetrate into the magical world of social philosophy and sociological theory..
you choose...
Thanks to Habermas for such an epical book...
Do not emancipate yourself without it!.......2001-02-14
I would like remind readers that this book is the first volume of the two that constitute "The Theory of Communicative Action" (the second volume has as subtitle "Lifeworld and System - A Critique of Functionalist Reason"). The first volume was published in English in 1984, while the second volume appeared in 1987. The two volumes are not independent books and should be read as a single book.
Habermas can be linked to the group of German philosophers and social theorists associated with the Institute of Social Research, founded in 1924 at the University of Frankfurt. Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, the two most distinguished members of the "Frankfurt School" (as the Institute was nicknamed), developed a social analysis that departed from orthodox Marxism and was known as "critical theory". According to critical theory, the ailments of modern capitalist society were due to its encompassing rationalization, resulting in a complete alienation of the working class. Following Weber's pessimistic diagnostic, Horkheimer and Adorno considered that Enlightenment's dream of a society guided by reason had degenerated into an "iron cage": human beings were condemned to live without freedom, following rules devoid of meaning. "Instrumental reason", that is, the manipulative, self-interested, technical use of reason in administration, economics and science, had become so encompassing that there was no hope for escaping from it.
Habermas, who arrived at the Institute of Social Research in the early 1950's, concluded that Horkheimer's and Adorno's analysis of contemporary society hit a dead end. Critical theory, which was supposed to guide individuals in their struggle for emancipation, turned contemplative, pessimistic. The problem with the "old" critical theory, Habermas believed, was that it remained attached to the philosophy of consciousness. In order to put critical theory back to its original track, Habermas switched to the philosophy of language and expanded the concept of reason to include "communicative rationality". With these theoretical moves, Habermas reestablished the centrality of reason as the guiding principle for attaining emancipation. Because language presupposes unrestricted communication and mutual understanding, coordinated action is an always present possibility to speaking subjects. Parting from this philosophical outlook, Habermas developed the concept of "communicative action", defined as "the type of interaction in which all participants harmonize their individual plans of action with one another and thus pursue their illocutionary aims without reservation" (TCA, v.1, p. 294). According to this perspective, the predicaments of modern society are consequence - as Horkheimer and Adorno had argued - of an excessive reliance in instrumental reason (or purposive rationality, has Habermas prefers to call it). However, Habermas argued that there is a way out of this situation: In order to overcome social crises, it is necessary to counterbalance purposive rationality by bringing communicative rationality back into play.
Habermas' communicative action argument was already present in his writings of the early 1960's. In TCA Habermas presents a detailed justification of his theoretical approach and expands it into a social theory aimed at explaining the occurrence of social pathologies. In support of his argumentation, Habermas introduces a new concept of society that intertwine the lifeworld concept (the common pool of knowledge that individuals use in order to attach meaning to the world) and the social system concept. According to this "dual" approach, society evolves by differentiating itself both as system and as lifeworld. "Systemic evolution is measured by the increase in society's steering capacity, whereas the state of development of a symbolically structured lifeworld is indicated by the separation of culture, society, and personality" (TCA, v. 2, p. 152).
The argumentation Habermas conducts in TCA is highly abstract at times. This has lead to misunderstandings of his key arguments, particularly of the communicative action concept. According to this distorted interpretation, Habermas had advocated for the establishment of an ideal, utopian society in which all human beings would reach consensus about everything. Taken out of the context of the full argumentation, the communicative action concept acquires a naïve twist that Habermas' detractors - as well as some of his supporters - have contributed to establish. Nevertheless, the reader that endures the abstract aspects of TCA will be recompensed by a bright and clear interpretation of contemporary society. Habermas argument on the limitations of socialist states is particularly enlightening. Leftists will finally understand why democracy should not be seen just as a bourgeois invention and right-wingers will find reasons for not rejoicing at the downfall of socialism.
Prospective readers of TCA should be warned that they are at risk of establishing Habermas as a benchmark to every other social theorist. This risk, however, is worth taking.
A classic.......2000-05-24
I was quite surprised when I noted that there was no review to this book. In fact, this book will be considered in the future as a real classic lecture. As the figure of Habermas becomes more important every day his most important work become crucial. A must-read.
Customer Reviews:
Good in spite of some flaws.......2007-04-22
I have to say that this is a good book overall that helped me defend my faith better.
The first section, on the evidence for immortality, is the strongest in my opinion, especially in their case for substance dualism (the traditional soul-body distinction), which is critical for the Christian view of immortality, and refutation of physicalism (the idea that humans are reducible to matter alone).
I have to admit that, even after reading their chapters on Near Death Experiences (NDEs), I still remain a bit skeptical about them, although these chapters certainly gave me a lot to think about and I have to admit that they brought up good points.
Their section on the Resurrection of Jesus didn't provide much information that I didn't already know, but then again I've read book-length defenses of that already so I guess I can't blame the authors too much for that. It's still pretty good given their space, especially if you haven't read a defense of it before.
Their second section, on the nature of immortality, was probably the weakest of the three. It still has a lot of good information in it, but unfortunately it suffers from a bit of excessive speculation on the part of the authors. The chapter on reincarnation, which a surprising number of professing Christians believe in, is pretty useful though, and the chapter on the doctrine of hell brings up some really good points.
The third section, on the implications of immortality (if immortality is true, so what?), is really practical. It has really interesting, informative, and useful discussions on issues like euthanasia, abortion, end-of-life issues, living in light of eternity, fear of death, etc.
Overall this is a very good book, especially if you can overlook its Arminian theological slant. It is evidentialist in its approach. Even though I am a Calvinist who tends to favor presuppositional apologetics over evidentialist apologetics, I still found this book very useful and informative and would recommend it to anyone who is considering becoming a Christian or any Christian who is trying to learn to defend his faith.
I'd recommend reading this book with "Resurrection" by Hank Hanegraaff and "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn. If you liked either of those books you may like this book too; conversely, if you liked this book, you may like those books as well.
Old arguments.......2000-01-23
In reading this book I was very impressed with Dr. Habermas' writings, however it was the opposite with Dr. Moreland. He tries to offer a logical argument for dualism, which is a dead idea. I feel that as Christians we need to get away from the philosophy of Plato and his body/soul distiction. also the use of NDE's in this book is a horrible argument and most of the scientific world laughs out loud at these ideas. I recommed for the philosophical mind that you read Richard Rorty's Objectivism, Relativism and Truth essay on Non-Reductive Physicalism. This is the direction Christianity has to go if it is going to continue to live.
An excellent work.......1999-02-07
It is both comprehensive and scholarly. Includes three sections: evidence for immortality, nature of immortality, and implications of immortality.
Begins with some foundational work on what exactly it means for something to be rational. Works through some traditional arguments for immortality and assesses them. Also covers the claims of Jesus and, significantly, it responds to the claims of athiest Michael Martin. Also discusses NDEs, heaven, and hell.
This book is written with a non-believer in mind. I don't know, however, how convincing it would be to a non-believer because it deals primarily with the mind and not the heart. Additionally, my encounters with non-believers reinforces to me that you can doubt anything, even when it is non-sensical to do so. Faith is an issue of the condition of you heart. What I do know is that the work done in this book is foundational to thinking about immortality, and that anyone seriously interested in this subject will be well served by reading it. I, personally, was able to expand my thinking.
In my experience, anything that JP Moreland puts his hand to is intellectually powerful and dangerous to the secular establishment.
Book Description
Which paradigm of critique--Foucault's or Habermas's--is philosophically and practically superior, especially with regard to the nature and role of power in contemporary society? In shaping this collection, Michael Kelly has sought to address this question in relation to the ethical, political, and social theory of the past two decades.
Michel Foucault and Jurgen Habermas had only just begun to come to terms with one another's work when Foucault died in 1984; they had even discussed the possibility of a formal debate on "Enlightenment" in the neutral arena of the United States. In the decade since, Habermas and his supporters have continued to respond to Foucault in various ways, but Foucault's followers have not shown as strong an inclination to keep up his side of the dialogue. For this reason an invaluable exchange on the nature and limits of philosophy in the present age has never achieved its full potential.
In this anthology Michael Kelly recasts the debate in a way that will open it up for further development. The book starts by juxtaposing key texts from the two philosophers; it then adds a set of reactions and commentaries by theorists who have taken up the two alternative approaches to power and critique. (Two of these essays were written especially for this volume.) The result is a guide for those seeking to understand and build on this important but unfinished debate.
Essays by:
Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas, Axel Honneth, Nancy Fraser, Richard Bernstein, Thomas McCarthy, James Schmidt and Thomas E. Wartenberg, Gilles Deleuze, Jana Sawicki, Michael Kelly.
Books:
- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
- The Tragic and the Ecstatic: The Musical Revolution of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde
- The Ultimate Gift (The Ultimate Series #1)
- The Wealth of Nations (Bantam Classics)
- The Winter Lodge (Lakeshore Chronicles)
- The Wretched of the Earth
- This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House, and Hollywood
- Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years
- Vladimir Nabokov: Selected Letters 1940-1977
- Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses: Sedges, Rushes, Restios, Cat-Tails and Selected Bamboo
- History: Fiction or Science
- Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man
- Playing Easy to Get
- The Ramona Collection, Vol. 1: Ramona the Brave / Ramona and Her Father/Ramona the Pest/Beezus and R
- Religion And Ecology In India And South East Asia
- Everything I Learned About People, I Learned from a Round of Golf
- Information Interviewing: How to Tap Your Hidden Job Market
- Raising Atlantis
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Habermas and the Public Sphere (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought)
Publics and Counterpublics
The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 1: Reason and the Rationalization of Society (The Theory of Communicative Action, Vol1)
The Theory of Communicative Action, Volume 2: Lifeword and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason
Dialectic of Enlightenment (Cultural Memory in the Present)
