Description
Since Max Weber social theory has been faced with a paradox-the "problem of rationality"-that seems to challenge the very foundations of critical and humanist visions of modern society. According to Weber, as industrial societies develop they increasingly are dominated by rational procedures for the production of goods, the organization of human resources, and the management of information. The paradox consists in the fact that while modern society is, in this instrumental sense, becoming more rationalized, the prospects for developing political and cultural institutions which are linked to a progressive vision of rational discourse and democratic-will formation are diminished.
Order Without Rules addresses the "problem of rationality" in its most contemporary incarnation: the critical theory of the German philosopher and social critic, Jurgen Habermas. Habermas attempts to resolve the Weberian paradox by identifying the rational "core" of communication with universal processes of interpretive understanding that are present in everyday conversation. Drawing upon the work within the Wittgensteinian and ethnomethodological traditions of linguistic and social analysis, this book questions whether the logic of language underlying Habermas's theory of communicative action is in fact the defining feature of conversational practice. It is argued that Habermas's conception of linguistic rules and their connection to rational action is ill-founded, and that a fundamental rethinking of his concept of communicative action is therefore required. Throughout the book, a reflexive orientation is maintained toward questions of method and the internal relationship between disciplinary practices and empirical phenomena.
About the Author
David Bogen is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Acting Director of Interdisciplinary Studies at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author, with Michael Lynch, of The Spectacle of History: Speech, Text, and Memory at the Iran-Contra Hearings.
Reviews
"...recommendable reading ..." - Contemporary Sociology
Book Information
ISBN 9780791440568
Author David Bogen
Format Paperback
Page Count 188
Imprint State University of New York Press
Publisher State University of New York Press
Weight(grams) 263g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 25mm