The explanation versus understanding debate was important to the philosophy of thesocial sciences from the time of Dilthey and Weber through the work of Popper and Hempel.

Die Debatte über Inhalt, Begründung und Tragfähigkeit eines universalistischen Begriffs von Vernunft wird zunehmend zur zentralen Debatte der Philosophie. Hat die Tradition des ”okzidentalen Rationalismus“ (Max Weber) den Vernunftbegriff lediglich intern differenziert - in ”theoretische“ und ”praktische“ Vernunft (Kant), in ”Verstand“ und ”Vernunft“ (Hegel), in ”Zweckrationalität“ und ”Wertrationalität“ (Weber) -, so wurde im Lichte der Erfahrung zweier Weltkriege in diesem Jahrhundert mit der Kritik an der Irrationalität einer verselbständigten ”instrumentellen“ Vernunft (Horkheimer/Adorno) eine Dialektik skeptisch reflektiert die heute im (...) Zeichen einer ”radikalen Vernunftkritik“ diese Tradition als ganze in Frage gestellt hat: statt der ”zwanglosen Geltung von Vernunft“ nur Macht (Foucault), statt der ”einen“ Vernunft ein Plural von nicht mehr vermittelbaren Rationalitäten (MacIntyre, Lyotard), statt der ”Selbstbegründung“ nur kontingente Konventionen (Rorty), statt der ”Handlungsrationalität“ von Menschen die Rationalität sozialer Systeme (Luhmann), statt ”idealtypischer Rationalitätsstandards“ nur kontextrelative und fallspezifische Handlungsgründe (Toulmin). Der vorliegende Band, zu dem sechzehn angelsächsische und deutsche Philosophen beigetragen haben, widmet sich dieser Diskussion mit dem Ziel einer vertieften Bestandsaufnahme der Problemstellung. Darüber hinaus wird die Integrationskraft eines typologisch differenzierten, diskurstheoretischen Vernunftkonzepts erprobt. (Quelle: buchhandel.de). (shrink)

In his preface to the English edition, Apel (identified with critical theory) explains that the title of his two-volume German collection connotes both a reconstruction of the process of hermeneutic transformation in recent philosophy and the author's semiotical transformation of transcendental logic. The emphasis here is on the latter with discussions of the a priori nature of language per Wittgenstein, Peirce, and Chomsky, and its implications for a rational foundation for ethics in modern science. Includes a new foreword. Name index (...) only. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR. (shrink)

Collected together for the first time in English, Karl-Otto Apel’s most recent work covers a broad spectrum of philosophical issues. Highly original, this work will be valuable to academics and students concerned with (post-) analytic philosophy, epistemology, history of science, Heidegger’s fundamental ontology, current debates about transcendental modes of argument, second-generation Frankfurt School thinkers and American pragmatists. It will be no less useful to all those interested in reformulations of Kantian themes and redefinitions of older ideas within the (...) linguistic paradigm, as well as those who, being familiar with Habermas’s work, wish to know more about the controversies and debates within the circle of the Frankfurt School itself. (shrink)

Reflecting a revival of Peirce studies and the rediscovery of the pragmatist tradition in American philosophical thinking, this study articulates a contemporary and relevant interpretation that may offer a challenge to neo-pragmatists.

Bd. 1. Sprachanalytik, Semiotik, Hermeneutik. Bd. 2. Das Apriori der Kommunikationsgemeinschaft.

Starting from the problem of tolerance in a multicultural society, the author undermines the limits of a classical‐liberal foundation (negative tolerance) and suggests the need for a new meaning: a positive concern of tolerance implying appreciation of a variety of social cultures and value traditions. On an ethical level, positive tolerance can be grounded in the Discourse Theory, developing the classical Kantian deontological ethics in a transcendental‐pragmatic and in a transcendental‐hermeneutic sense. In this way, discourse ethics can answer two questions (...) posed by tolerance in a multicultural society: the duty to support all in the pursuit of their ideals and realize positive tolerance as well as its restrictions. (shrink)

Le besoin d'une ethique globale a son origine dans la situation humaine comme telle (l'hominisation nous a en effet eloignes de la securite naturelle des instincts animaux et nous a jetes dans l'etat de liberte) et specialement dans la situation presente de l'humanite. Celle-ci se caracterise par un accroissement extreme des defis externes a notre co-responsabilite. Ces defis sont poses par les resultats de la science naturelle, de la technologie, de la politique et de l'economie tandis que semblent bien marquer (...) les ressources internes de la raison ethique. Le present livre tente de montrer que l'approche pragmatico-transcendantale de l'ethique de la discussion est en mesure de reconstruire la genese de cette situation et de fournir une reponse rationnelle tant aux defis externes qu'aux defis internes auxquels une ethique globale est confrontee. (shrink)

In this article the author tries to give an answer - from the point of view of the transcendental pragmatic foundation of discourse ethics - to the title question, which was raised by the Unesco conferences entitled `Universal Ethics' in Paris (27 March 1997) and Naples (December 1997). The article should be understood as a supplement to the empiristic-comparative responses of S. Bok and H. Küng, and especially to the communitarian approach of M. Walzer, proposed at the first conference. Unlike (...) traditional rationalism, this approach does not try to deduce concrete moral norms from axiomatic first principles; it begins with transcendental reflection on the undeniable moral presuppositions of argumentative discourse (which is not circumventable in philosophy). The approach first deduces from these presuppositions only the ideal procedures for the moral discourses through which all concrete moral problems ought to be solved, if possible. The second step provides a strategic-counter-strategic supplementation principle for those cases where undistorted moral discourses are not possible. (shrink)

Der Wissenschaftskonzeption der "kritischen Theorie" der zu verändernden Gesellschaft wird im wesentlichen zugestimmt. Sie wird verteidigt insbesondere gegen ein Selbstverständnis der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften, das sich im Namen der "Freiheit von Forschung und Lehre" auf einen Begriff "der" interesse- bzw. wertfreien Wissenschaft zurückzieht. Andererseits will der Autor die genannte Konzeption ergänzen bzw. präzisieren: Zwar stellt die Einheit von Theorie und Praxis ein Postulat philosophischer Reflexion dar, letztere erweist aber auf ihrer höchsten Stufe das politisch interessierte Engagement und das wissenschaftliche Interesse (...) an entdogmatisierender Reflexion jedes Engagements unter den Bedingungen menschlicher Endlichkeit als polar-entgegengesetzte, auseinandertretende Momente. (shrink)

v. 1. Towards a transcendental semiotics -- v. 2. Ethics and the theory of rationality.

Enrique Dussel's writings span the theology of liberation, critiques of discourse ethics, evaluations of Marx, Levinas, Habermas, and others, but most importantly, the development of a philosophy written from the underside of Eurocentric modernist teleologies, an ethics of the impoverished, and the articulation of a unique Latin American theoretical perspective. This anthology of original articles by U.S. philosophers elucidating Dussel's thought, offers critical analyses from a variety of perspectives, including feminist ones. Also included is an essay by Dussel that responds (...) to these essays. (shrink)

Accused of the murder of two men and the rape and murder of a Tombstone businessman's fiancâee, Matt Donohue must find the girl in the middle of Apache territory in order to clear his name.

The present book tries to show that the transcentendal-pragmatic approach to discourse ethics can reconstruct the genesis of this situation and provide a ...

As the title of my paper indicates, I wish to establish a relationship between the problem of an adequate explication of the truth-conception that underlies modern empirical science and the philosophy of C. S. Peirce who is often called the founder of American Pragmatism. In speaking of the truth-conception of modern empirical science, I am thinking of a conception of truth that is necessarily presupposed for an adequate epistemological and methodological understanding of experimental and theoretical natural science and, indeed, for (...) such types of quasi-nomological social science as can be practiced according to the paradigm of natural science. This means that I do not propose directly to thematize the truth-problematics of so called “hermeneutic Geisteswissenschaften” or “critical-reconstructive social sciences” which, in my opinion, transcend the truth-conception as well as the very concept of science. (shrink)

In reconstructing and commenting upon the Kosovo conflict, the cognitive interest of practical philosophy does not evade a political judgment but is primarily led by the interest in answering the question of what normative yardsticks are available (to politicians and to the public) for coping with a situation where the international order of law fails to provide a legal solution to the problem of preserving peace and, at the same time, protecting human rights that are severely violated by a sovereign (...) state. The paper proposes an answer from the point of view of an ethics of history-related responsibility, which takes into account three normative levels based on ethical, legal and political considerations. In this light the action of NATO must be judged. (shrink)

L’article est une prise de position critique à propos du livre de Habermas Faktizität und Geltung . Plus précisément, il s’agit d’une critique de l’ « architectonique” de la différenciation discussionnelle, menée à propos du rapport entre principe de discussion, principe moral, principe du droit et principe démocratique. Mon point de vue résulte de la position de l’éthique de la discussion comme discipline de base de la philosophie pratique, dans la perspective d’une fondation pragmatique-transcendantale ultime. Une « architectonique » alternative (...) de la différenciation discussionnelle du point de vue de l’éthique de la discussion est proposée.The following essay takes a critical stand to Habermas’ book Faktizität und Geltung of 1992 ; more precisely expressed : my stance is critical with regard to Habermas’ new « architectonics » of discourse-differentiation concerning the relationship between « discourse-principle », « principle of morality », « principle of law », and « principle of democracy ». My critique represents the view of a « transcendentalpragmatic ultimate foundation of discourse-ethics » . An alternative « architectonics » of discourse differentiation in the sense of discourse-ethics is suggested. (shrink)

As the title of my paper indicates, I wish to establish a relationship between the problem of an adequate explication of the truth-conception that underlies modern empirical science and the philosophy of C. S. Peirce who is often called the founder of American Pragmatism. In speaking of the truth-conception of modern empirical science, I am thinking of a conception of truth that is necessarily presupposed for an adequate epistemological and methodological understanding of experimental and theoretical natural science and, indeed, for (...) such types of quasi-nomological social science as can be practiced according to the paradigm of natural science. This means that I do not propose directly to thematize the truth-problematics of so called “hermeneutic Geisteswissenschaften” or “critical-reconstructive social sciences” which, in my opinion, transcend the truth-conception as well as the very concept of science. (shrink)