ABSTRACT
The transition from critical theory to systems theory as the theoretical framework for the further analysis of the ecological discourse and contemporary eco-politics marks a turning point in this study. In terms of social theory formation it marks a change of paradigm. Such changes of paradigm imply the complete replacement of the concepts and parameters which previously determined human enquiry about truth. The Copernican Revolution, for example, removed the earth from the centre of the universe thus giving rise to a radically new understanding of the world. By removing metaphysical truth from the centre of epistemology, Immanuel Kant initiated a similar revolution in the field of philosophy. He established that the scientific knowledge we have is valid for all rational beings but not in itself, that is a priori. Contemporary philosophy goes yet a step further in announcing that the Kantian belief in uniform reason and the transcendental subject is not defensible either. In his Theory of Communicative Action, Jürgen Habermas demands that ‘we give up the paradigm of the philosophy of consciousness’ and replace it with that of ‘intersubjective understanding or communication’ (Habermas 1984: 390). Within the framework of communication theory, truth is no longer anchored in the rational consciousness of the transcendental subject, but it has to be established in the intersubjective sphere of communication. In actual fact, the concept of truth is fully replaced by that of agreement.
