Juergen Habermas

Juergen Habermas has proven one of the most influential philosophers of the modern era.  While the range of topics he has researched and developed is large and diverse, there are two broad lines of work that point to an enduring interest: one has to do with the public sphere and the other with rationality, knowledge, and communication.  For Habermas, the public sphere holds a variety of meanings as it provides a situation or site where messages are articulated, distributed, and negotiated.  It first emerged in eighteenth century Europe as individuals formed a public space consisting of critical discussion where a check would balance state power because of public reason.  This concept was characterized by dialogue between individuals who met in person or who shared ides via the print media.  Such open disscussion helped lead to the individual's emancipation from the deceptive nature of institutions of the West.  In terms of rationality and communication, Habermas places the former within the boundaries of interpersonal lingusitc communication, thus advancing the goal of human emancipation through a moralistic framework as those involved maintain a goal of mutual understanding (stanford.edu).