ABSTRACT
Critical political sociology has an interest in vindicating the claim to truth which may stem from communicative experience in a community and the norms of its organization. Habermas therefore implicitly credits Hans-Georg Gadamer with insights which sharpen the focus of critical theory, and he views himself to be in a position to assimilate those elements of the critique of progress which hermeneutics brings to the fore. Critical theory has become a critique of instrumental reason. Critical theory must assimilate science conceptually if it is to be also a critique of the values inherent in tradition. The chapter examines more carefully how the hermeneutic project draws Habermas into its fold and what factors he leaves aside. It shows that critical theory and hermeneutics both identify a critique of instrumental reason as the major task under present historical conditions where the legitimacy of late capitalism has come into question.
