Jürgen Habermas, one of the greatest social thinkers of the century, will give a speech titled “Learning from Catastrophes? — A Brief Look Back at the Short Twentieth Century” on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.
Habermas, a well-known German philosopher and leading representative of the Frankfurt
school of critical theory, has refashioned thinking about technology and culture, politics
and postmodernism, law and democracy. His scholarly work, which includes critical analysis
of contemporary society, ranges across many of the humanities and social sciences. The
author of numerous books and articles, he is perhaps best known for his books Knowledge
and Human Interests, Postmetaphysical Thinking, and Between Facts and Norms.
In his talk at Union, Habermas will examine the peculiar face of the twentieth century
(between 1914 and 1989) characterized by the Cold War, Decolonization, and the reduction
of class conflict against the background of changing trends in demographic growth, in
technology, and in patterns of production. Committed to illuminating living controversies,
Habermas will consider the challenges now posed to the fragile welfare-state compromise by
the stresses and dislocations of economic globalization. Finally, he will ask the
question, is there any viable alternative to the neoconservative response?
Habermas will be a guest at Union for one week, leading discussions and seminars for
Union faculty and students.