Blackwell Reference Online

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Jürgen Habermas was born on June 18, 1929 in Gummersbach, Germany. He is a philosopher and sociologist who emerged from the Frankfurt School tradition of advancing the social development of all citizens through the public sphere. The work of Habermas – widely cited and read by leftist scholars – is shaped by the historical and social events that took place in Germany during the twentieth century. Habermas grew up in Nazi Germany during World War II and was profoundly exercised by many questions left unanswered in the postwar wake. His family were ardently Protestant and sympathized with the Nazis, but Habermas experienced a philosophical and political awakening in 1945 at the war's conclusion. During the Nuremberg Trials, Habermas was concerned with the political and moral failure of Germany. When he demanded a public explanation of Martin Heidegger's reference to the “inner truth and greatness” of National Socialism, he received no response. After this, Habermas concluded that philosophy is interrelated with politics and that it should be read and understood as having a political character. He studied and received his doctorate at the University of Bonn in 1954, completing a dissertation on Schelling's theoretical conflict between the absolute and history, after which he was a journalist for two years. In 1956 he worked as an assistant to Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer at the ... log in or subscribe to read full text