Language, Self, and Lifeworld in Habermas's "Theory of Communicative Action"

Present a critique of the theory of origins & nature of the self & its relation to society elaborated in Jurgen Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action, Vol. 2 Lifeworld and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason (see SA 36:1/88c00922). Habermas's thesis that the self is socially & linguistically constituted is challenged, & the connections between George Herbert Mead's conception of the self & that of Habermas are explored. Habermas is criticized for an overly socialized concept of the self, for equating consciousness with intentionality, & for arguing that intentionality does not exist prior to language. Also discussed are Habermas's thoughts on the lifeworld in relation to self & language. W. Howard