Habermas and the Political Sciences The Relationship between Theory and Practice

Jürgen Habermas's theories have received enormous attention in the public sphere as well as in political science. It is therefore surprising that his method, rational reconstruction, is not more debated. In political science the method is of particular interest because of its ambition to bridge...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophy of the social sciences 2009-09, Vol.39 (3), p.381-407
Main Authors: PEDERSEN, Jørgen, KJAERLAND, Linn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Empirical research
Habermas, Jurgen
Habermas, Jürgen
Historical studies (History of philosophy. History of ideas)
Human rights
Philosophers
Philosophy
Philosophy of science
Political philosophy
Political science
Political theory
Rationalism
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Summary:Jürgen Habermas's theories have received enormous attention in the public sphere as well as in political science. It is therefore surprising that his method, rational reconstruction, is not more debated. In political science the method is of particular interest because of its ambition to bridge the gap between empirical and normative approaches. In this article the author traces Habermas's interest in rational reconstruction by going back to his writings on theory and practice and subsequently shows what the method's main principles are. He then specifies how this methodological conception is used in Habermas's political theory. Finally, the introduction of an empirical design allows the author to discuss one of the fundamental tensions in Habermas's approach: the hypotheses arrived at through rational reconstruction are empirical hypotheses but cannot be tested by empirical means. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0048-3931
1552-7441
DOI:10.1177/0048393108329796