From: EDavisMail-AT-aol.com
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 04:02:31 -0500 (EST)
Subject: HAB: Habermas and social action


Hello, people in dialogue about Habermas.

I am currently a Masters Candidate in Economics, with an emphasis on the
Austrian School, at California State University, Hayward Campus.

I hope that maybe one of you can help me.  I'm a little confused about
Habermas's approach to social action, which I understand has evolved over
time.  My confusion centers particularly around his treatment of social
action in relation to communicatively achieved consensus.  In his earlier
work, he appears to tie consensus closely to a goal shared by the
participants in dialogue.  In his later work--and for me this goes no later
than The Theory of Communicative Action, because I have not yet read anything
more recent--consensus and shared purpose, in the sense of social action, do
not appear to be as closely tied.  Does Habermas's notion of a "general
interest" imply a single, shared goal?  How is this linked to consesus?  Does
Habermas's expansion of the public sphere entail a shared goal among the
participants in this sphere insofar as they achieve consensus?

I would greatly appreciate any assistance.

Erik Davis
CSU, Hayward


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