Habermas restricts moral philosophy to procedural justification, leaving substance to citizens

Evidence

According to my conception, the philosopher ought to explain the moral point of view, and — as far as possible — justify the claim to the universality of this explanation, showing why it does not merely reflect the moral intuitions of the average, male, middle-class member of a modern Western society. Anything further than that is a matter for moral discourse among participants. Insofar as the philosopher would like to justify specific principles of a normative theory of morality and politics, he should consider this as a proposal for the discourse between citizens. In other words: the moral philosopher must leave the substantive questions which go beyond a fundamental critique of value-scepticism and valuerelativism to the participants in moral discourse, or tailor the cognitive claims of normative theory from the outset to the role of a participant. — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 424

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies Habermas’s ethical cognitivism — the procedural-restriction doctrine that makes his philosophy hostage to participants’ discourse.
• XREF: This procedural-substantive split in Habermas connects to Jameson’s claim that postmodernism empties out universal norms — Habermas’s flight from content is exactly the move Jameson diagnoses as postmodern. — connects to: Procedural ethics cannot justify principles without empirical accounts of persons — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 426; Political principles can float free of the background ethical views that embed them. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular:…, 20; Habermas’s poststructuralism critique is shaped by German anxieties over reactionary challenges — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 367 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Procedural ethics cannot justify principles without empirical accounts of persons #expands (0.85) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 426
• Political principles can float free of the background ethical views that embed them. #contradicts (0.85) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 20
• Habermas’s poststructuralism critique is shaped by German anxieties over reactionary challenges #expands (0.80) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 367