Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 16:56:53 -0600 (CST)
From: "Vic Peterson" <vpetersn-AT-merle.acns.nwu.edu>
Subject: HAB: RE: immigration and absolute


First, to Kenneth:

A discussion on immigration might be fun and worthwhile, but there ARE some
writings by Habermas on this that have been translated into English:

"The Asylum Dabate," in _The Past as Future_, trans. and ed. by Max Pensky
(U. Nebraska Press, 1994), 121-41.

The last section of "Citizenship and National Identity," reprinted in
BFN--also see the index of BFN under "immigration."

"The European Nation State," _Ratio Juris_ 9:2 (1996): 125-37--esp. the last
section.

"Multiculturalism and the Liberal State," _Stanford Law Review_ 47 (1995):
845-53--the last page.

By the way, though not specifically on immigration/asylum, there's another
recently translated piece some may not yet be aware of: "Kant's Idea of
Perpetual Peace, with the Benefit of Two Hundred Years' Hindsight," in James
Bohman and Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, eds., _Perpetual Peace_ (MIT Press,
1997), 113-53.

And keep an eye out for the forthcoming (MIT Press?, next year?) _The
Inclusion of the Other_--post-BFN political theory essays, some not
previously translated.

Secondly, to Steve,

I figured we WERE talking about pretty much the same thing.  I agree that
validity claims are demands for recognition from others--in "exchange," of
course, for the speaker's commitment to provide convincing reasons if
challenged.  But I don't think that "absolute" is the best term to
characterize this intersubjective recognition.  Not that it's necessarily
fascist, but absolute justification is at odds with fallibilism and
postmetaphysical thinking in general (see _TCA_ I, p. 24; for the Absolute-
with-a-capital-A, see _Justification and Application_, p. 146), while
asserting the absolute validity of norms entails a denial of their merely
prima facie validity (see _Justification and Application_, p. 63, and
Guenther, _The Sense of Appropriateness_, p. 210).  Speaking instead of the
"universal" and "unconditional" meaning of validity claims is both more
precise and in keeping with Habermas's own usage.

Here are citations for some of Habermas's references to the
context-transcendence and -situatedness of validity claims:

"A Reply," in Honneth and Joas, eds., _Communicative Action_, p. 232.

_Philosophical Discourse of Modernity_, pp. 322-3.

_Justification and Application_, pp. 145-6, 164-5.

_Postmetaphysical Thinking_, pp. 50, 139.

_Between Facts and Norms_, pp. 15-6, 20-1.

Yours, Vic


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