ABSTRACT
Habermas, Jürgen (1929-) German philosopher who sees art as the force of change in cultural systems. Habermas is widely known for his critiques of the tendency of Western capitalist democracies to evaluate social progress in terms of economic efficiency. His major works include Theorie und Praxis (1963; Theory and Practice, 1973), Erkenntis und Interesse (1968; Knowledge and Human Interests, 1971), Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns (1981; A Theory of Communicative Action, 1984), and Der philosophische Diskurs der Moderne (1985; The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, 1987).
