ABSTRACT
In recent decades, the willingness to rely on categories like human nature, “universal reason,” and “rational autonomous subject” has increasingly been put into question. From diverse standpoints, very different thinkers have criticized the idea of a universal human nature, of a universal canon of rationality through which that nature could be known, as well as the possibility of a universal truth. Such a critique of rationalism and universalism, which is sometimes referred to as “postmodern,” is seen by authors like Jürgen Habermas as a threat to the modern democratic ideal. They affirm that there is a necessary link between the democratic project of the Enlightenment and its epistemological approach and that, as a consequence, to find fault with rationalism and universalism means undermining the very basis of democracy. This explains the hostility of Habermas and his followers towards the different forms of post-Marxism, poststructuralism, and postmodernism.
