ABSTRACT
The first is that the German philosopher has in mind primarily a political community, rather than a scientific one. In this regard, his faith in reasoned discourse seems naive in its underestimation of desire, passion, and fantasy. His response would be that his recommended community tries to overcome these human traits by setting up boundary conditions of reason to keep them out. Applied to politics, this seems unrealistic. In any effort to extend Habermas's speech community to all of humanity, the same strictures would apply forcefully. There are many other ways than the scientific by which the human spirit expresses itself. Music, visual art, and literature are a few, and they pose particular problems to the inquirer after truth. Still, a few words about them will help place in context our findings about the human sciences and what we will be saying about consciousness.
