Habermasian Thought

Jürgen Habermas (1929–) dedicated his energies to reestablishing reason as the driving force behind both democracy and communication. In Knowledge and Human Interests, appearing in the United States in 1971, Habermas claimed that all knowledge is constituted in human interests, and he named three such interests: control, interpretation, and emancipation. The interest in control, he said, is dominated by positivism and governs science and technology. The interest in interpretation governs hermeneutics and human interaction, and interest in emancipation, Habermas said, would govern a psychological and social science dedicated to promoting the liberty of individuals in particular and society in general. Habermasian thought provided a theoretical base for North American curriculum theorists to critique the organizational structures of education and to analyze and then develop alternative ...