The Communicative Ethics Controversy

This timely reader in moral philosophy addresses a controversy that strongly affected recent European reflections on the relevance of ethics for theories of democratic institutions and democratic legitimacy. The debate centers around the idea of a communicative ethics as articulated by Jürgen Habermas and Karl-Otto Apel, and it is representative both of recent attempts to bridge the gap between Continental and Anglo-American philosophy and of the turn to language that has characterized much of recent philosophy.The Communicative Ethics Controversy illustrates philosophical dialogue in action, moving from theses to counterarguments to rejoinders. Theoretical statements by Habermas, Apel, and two of their leading students, Dietrich Böhler and Robert Alexy,are followed by a series of five arguments by their leading critics, who represent viewpoints ranging from Kantian idealism to Wittgensteinian ordinary-language theory. Fred Dallmayr's introduction and Seyla Benhabib's incisive conclusion place the debate in perspective, bringing it up to date and relating it to the Anglo-American context.Seyla Benhabib is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Fred Dallmayr is Packey Dee Professor of Government at the University of Notre Dame.Contributors: Robert Alexy.

Karl-Otto Apel. Seyla Benhabib. Dietrich Bohler. Jurgen Habermas. Otfried Hoffe. KarlHeinz Ilting.

Hermann Lubbe. Herbert Schnadelbach. Albrecht Wellmer.

This timely reader in moral philosophy addresses a controversy that strongly affected recent European reflections on the relevance of ethics for theories of democratic institutions and democratic legitimacy.

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According to an increasingly influential perspective pioneered by Jurgen Habermas and Karl-Otto Apel, ethical norms are taken to be grounded by forms of argumentative practice. This approach, called collection, which offers English-speaking audiences the essays which outlined the foundations of the communicative ethics program as well as critical appraisals by leading scholars. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Seyla Benhabib is Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University and author of The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era and other books.

Fred Dallmayr is Packey Dee Professor of Government at the University of Notre Dame.