Habermas grounded critique in language itself to escape historical relativism

Evidence

The assumption that there was an idea of reason contained within language as an existential condition of the human species seemed to produce a standard for the criticism of society that was independent of historical traditions. This was the conclusion to which Habermas had been leading in borrowing Heidegger’s and Gadamer’s concepts of human existence as speech and a solidarity that unified every speaker of a language. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2445

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains Habermas’s move to linguistic-existential grounding of critical reason, borrowing from Heidegger and Gadamer.
• XREF: Connects to Habermas’s later universal pragmatics and the transcendental-pragmatic turn in Critical Theory — relevant to a broader reference on the Frankfurt School’s second generation. — connects to: Habermas abandoned labeling direct action as a form of fascism — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2649; Habermas grounds universalizing reason in the dialogical structure of communication. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 356; Habermas grounded critical theory in communication theory rather than the anthropology of knowledge. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2693 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Habermas grounds universalizing reason in the dialogical structure of communication. #expands (0.85) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 356
• Habermas grounded critical theory in communication theory rather than the anthropology of knowledge. #corroborates (0.80) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2693
• Habermas replaced the reconciliation-with-nature ideal with a language-based ideal of emancipation #expands (0.80) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2451