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Reflection As Praxis : an Exegesis of the Work of Jurgen Habermas and a Consideration of the Implications of His Thought for a Radically-Motivated Education

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Reflection As Praxis : an Exegesis of the Work of Jurgen Habermas and a Consideration of the Implications of His Thought for a Radically-Motivated Education University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1983 Reflection as praxis : an exegesis of the work of Jurgen Habermas and a consideration of the implications of his thought for a radically-motivated education. Deborah Anne McIntyre University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation McIntyre, Deborah Anne, "Reflection as praxis : an exegesis of the work of Jurgen Habermas and a consideration of the implications of his thought for a radically-motivated education." (1983). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 3896. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/3896 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REFLECTION AS PRAXIS: AN EXEGESIS OF THE WORK OF JURGEN HABERMAS AND A CONSIDERATION OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF HIS THOUGHT FOR A RADICALLY-MOTIVATED EDUCATION A Dissertation Presented By DEBORAH ANNE MclNTYRE Submitted to the Graduate School of the of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION MAY 1983 REFLECTION AS PRAXIS: AN EXEGESIS OF THE WORK OF JURGEN HABERMAS AND A CONSIDERATION OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF HIS THOUGHT FOR A RADICALLY-MOTIVATED EDUCATION A Dissertation Presented By DEBORAH ANNE McINTYRE Approved as to style and content by: Donald BankL, Member Howard Gad 1 in. Member — - . Haribaranan Swamirbwamina criau Acting Dean School of Education il ; ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This dissertation was written over the spring and summer of 1977. I would like to thank the following people for their ass i stance: the members of my committee - Susan Campbell, Howard Gadlin, and Don Banks - whose sustained encouragement and support made the whole thing poss i bl e; Jimmy Gold, Larry Hirschberg, Andy Rabinbach, and Bill Connolly, whose contributions were too numerous to itemize; Bob Kentor, Milton Cantor, Diana Diamond and Cartney James, whose friendship was so i mportant and Patricia McNally, who gave so much, and for whom, finally, it was written. ABSTRACT Reflection as Praxis: An Exegesis of the Work of Jurgen Habermas and a Consideration of the Implications of His Thought for a Radically- Motivated Education. May 1983 Deborah Anne McIntyre B.A., University of New England B.Soc.Stud. (Hons), University of Sydney M.Ed., University of Massachusetts Ed.D., University of Massachusetts Directed by: Professor Susan Campbell The work of Jurgen Habermas, a contemporary German Marxist philosopher and social theorist, is only recently becoming more available in the English speaking world. This dissertation has two main aims, the first being to contribute to the dissemination of his thought. The first three chapters present a basically chronological account of his work, focussing particularly on his efforts tc develop an epistemological basis for critical theory, to analyze the crisis potential of late capitalism, and, in line with his theorv of social evolution, to examine the possibilities for movement to a more highly developed social formation. Throughout his work, Habermas has struggled to resolve the theory/praxis dilemma which has haunted Marxist thought. This prompts the second major aim of the dissertation, to develop a theory of education based on Habermas' work. This is undertaken in an effort first to consider the possibilities contained in Habermas' work for the generation of a political praxis, and second to provide a perspective from which to reflect back on the theory itself. Within the framework of the dissertation, only the contours of a radically-motivated education could be articulated. It is argued that an education based on Habermas' work would take 'reflexive i ntersubject i ve activity' as its central image, and would be concerned to develop a 'rational identity' in its students, preliminary to their collective participation in a 'fully rational society ' It is concluded that while, in general, Habermas offers substantial direction for the development of praxis, there are some persistently troubling features of his work, particularly with regard to his communication theory. Given the centrality of this aspect of his theory to Habermas' attempt to generate normative principles for efforts a transition to a higher form of social organization, his seem to falter at precisely this point. table of contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENT j j j INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter I. THE THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE-CONSTITUTIVE INTERESTS .... 11 The Theory-Praxis Relationship 11 The Knowledge-Constitutive Interests 16 The Critique of Marxism 39 Comment and Critique b7 II. A COMMUNICATION THEORY OF SOCIETY 61 Speech: Its Orientation to Truth 70 Discourse and the Consensus Theory of Truth 79 A "Communicative Ethic" 88 Ideology as Distorted Communication 99 Comment and Critique 105 Conclusion 115 III. A THEORY OF SOCIAL EVOLUTION 118 The Analysis of Social Formations 127 Possible Crisis Tendencies of Advanced Capitalism . 138 Comment and Critiqe 15*4 IV. EDUCATION: THE FORMATION OF A TECHNOCRATIC CONSCIOUSNESS 1 72 The Possibilities for Praxis 172 The Formation of Technocratic Consciousness 179 In Search of an Alternative 109 213 V. EDUCATION: THE FORMATION OF A RATIONAL IDENTITY ... The Concept of 'Rational Identity' 213 The Development of Intersubjectivity 229 2 The Critique of Ideology • * • * ^ . 272 Discourse as a Model for Educational Interaction Assessment and Critique CONCLUSION 31*4 BIBLIOGRAPHY INTRODUCTION According to George Lichtheim, the work of Jurgen Habermas constitutes "the most impressive body of philosophy and sociology to have come out of Central Europe during 1 the 1960's" . Habermas' encyclopaedic knowledge (drawing on philosophy, sociology, economics, and linguistics), together with the originality and ambitiousness of his work, have established him as one of the most influential thinkers in contemporary Germany. Yet his work is barely known in, much less impress itself on, the Anglo-American world. There is however, an embryonic interest in his thought in this country, stimulated, at least in part, by the recent translation and publication of some of his major works. There are problems with its dissemination and reception, however, for Habermas writes in an enormously complex fashion (a complexity which is only compounded in translation), and because his work embraces themes from a wide range of disciplines. This dissertation will seek to render his thought more accessible. A full appreciation of the theoretical contributions of Jurgen Habermas necessitates an historical perspective. He is associated with, and is currently the major representative of, a group 1 Quoted in Martin Jay, "Some Recent Developments in Critical Theory." Berkeley Journal of Sociology, Number k, 197^> P* 29. 2 of Marxist scholars known as the Frankfurt School (the name reflects the site of the group's - formation Frankfurt-am-Main, in what is now West Germany); its organizational form was the Institut for Soz i al forschung (Institute for Social Research), set up in 1923, independently endowed, and committed to the re-examination and re- formulation - in the light of historical circumstances - of Marxist theory. Under the directorship of Max Horkheimer, the Institute attracted a group of gifted young intellectuals into its membership - Erich Fromm, Leo Lowenthal , Herbert Marcuse, Theodor W. Adorno, and others. 2 The Nazi ascendancy in Germany forced the group's relocation, in 1933, to Columbia University in New York City. Despite the difficulties attendant on such an emigration, the group continued to function, producing the Journal which had already established its reputation in German intellectual circles. (That it continued to publish in German rather than in translation no doubt contributed to the School's subsequent lack of impact on American social theory.) In 1950, the German government invited the School to return to Frankfurt - Herbert Marcuse was one of the few who declined - where it has exerted a steadily growing influence on the post-war generation of students, and on the broader intellectual scene. That influence remains unabated, if controversial, today. 2 See Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination. Boston, Massachusetts. Little, Brown and Company, 1973- 3 While thoroughly grounded in Marxist theory, members of the Frankfurt School sought to develop and extend that theory in the light of changing historical circumstances. The demise of working-class movements throughout Europe, together with the emergence of Facism, had seriously jeopardized the revolutionary possibilities which Marx had foreshadowed; thus confronted, the School saw the necessity for a re-evaluation of the original theory in order that these developments might be further illuminated and, if possible, overcome. of Their investigations transcended the familiary categories longer held Marxist thought. Convinced that economic structures no and political critique, the exclusive key to a thorough-going social phenomena 1 supposedly ep i members of the School moved to an analysis of family and, in particular, mass factors - personality development, the sources of ideology and culture - in an effort to locate the proceeded, however, it became mystification. As the investigation under late capitalism
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