This Companion provides a comprehensive guide to Jürgen Habermas’s prodigious body of work, bringing together contributions from leading specialists. It explores his main areas of study in chronological order, including topics such as the public sphere and the history of philosophy, to which he has returned in his recent books.
Addressing both the continuities and shifts of Habermas’s writings over the past 70 years, multidisciplinary contributions analyse his most recent opus on post-metaphysical philosophy and religion. They present essential theoretical and conceptual frameworks for understanding modern-day crises and, using Habermas’s theory, consider the potential for societal emancipation. Chapters discuss sociology and philosophy, the theory of law and democracy, religion and the challenges of practical reason, as well as Habermas’s global reception. This Companion stands as an essential tribute and evaluation of one of the most significant thinkers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The Elgar Companion to Jürgen Habermas is a vital resource for academics and students of social and legal theory, philosophy, politics and sociology. It is also an enlightening read for those interested in Habermas’s wide-ranging work and his role as a public intellectual from the 1950s to the present day.
