Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy » (1st Edition)

Jürgen Habermas is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Frankfurt and Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University. He was recently awarded the 2004 Kyoto Prize for Arts and Philosophy by the Inamori Foundation. The Kyoto Prize is an international award to honor those who have contributed significantly to the scientific, cultural, and spiritual betterment of mankind.

In Between Facts and Norms Jürgen Habermas works out the legal and political implications of his Theory of Communicative Action (1981), bringing to fruition the project announced with his publication of The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere in 1962.

This new work is a major contribution to recent debates on the rule of law and the possibilities of democracy in postindustrial societies. It offers a sweeping, sociologically informed conceptualization of law and basic rights, a normative account of the rule of law and the constitutional state, an attempt to bridge normative and empirical approaches to democracy, and an account of the social context required for democracy. The work concludes with a bold proposal for a new paradigm of law that goes beyond the dichotomies that have afflicted modern political theory from its inception and that still underlie current controversies between so-called liberals and civic republicans.

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Building on his 1981 volume Theory of Communicative Action, Habermas contributes to recent debates on the rule of law and the possibilities of democracy in postindustrial societies, proposing a new paradigm of law. First published in 1992 by Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany, this English language edition includes a postscript written in 1994 and two appendices covering key developments that preceded the book. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)