Habermas’s reformism looked realistic but science’s centrality made change less likely.

Evidence

At a period in which science and technology had become the primary productive force, Habermas, with his interests in science and university reform, seemed to be the more realistic of the two. However, precisely because of the significance of science and technology, the chances of change in this area were all the smaller. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2745

Categorization

• QUESTION: Curious how this tension between realistic reformism and structural inertia was resolved in Habermas’s later theory of the public sphere and communicative action.
• XREF: connects to: Young Habermas sought to recover science’s link to living practice, unlike his Frankfurt predecessors — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2326; Habermas linked student protest to recovering science’s emancipatory potential — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2613

Broader Connections

• Habermas linked student protest to recovering science’s emancipatory potential #complicates (0.78) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2613