Even though Jürgen Habermas maintained that his life was not suitable for the legend of a saint, until his death he was regarded by many in Europe as the greatest living philosopher and the best-known representative of critical theory. While the young assistant to Max Horkheimer, who was initially interested in Western Marxism, was still suspected of being a "student propagandist", formulations such as "communicative action", "discourse free of domination", the "new complexity", the "project of enlightenment" or a sober "constitutional patriotism" characterised the intellectual debates of their time. In the "historians' dispute", he prevented Ernst Nolte and others from relativising the Shoah as intended. At the same time, he is criticised by contemporary representatives of the philosophies of Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse and Benjamin for his rejection of their interpretation of National Socialist crimes as an expression of a "dialectic of enlightenment".
Following Habermas' death in Starnberg on Saturday 14 March at the age of 96, former students and current reviewers would like to dedicate a critical tribute to his work.
In discussion:
Stefan Gandler (Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, MX)
Frank Welz (Department of Sociology