Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 00:19:48 EDT
Subject: Re: HAB: The concept of reach understanding


In a message dated 5/27/98 10:42:35 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
caldastec-AT-gcsnet.com.br writes:

<< I want know about the importance of this concept.  Anibody can help-me?
 I suppose this is very central in the Theory of Communicative Action and
 is related to the perspective of Habermas' emancipation.  My question
 is: How can the process of "reach understanding contribute to human
 emancipation, and from what kind of emancipation are we talking since
 Habermas thought >>

The concept of reaching understanding is the antidote to strategic action
which is highly competitive.  An orientation to success accompanies strategic
action (conflict) which utilizes functions of influence and opposition to
attain objectives.  Reaching understanding, on the other hand, is
conversational where the issue discussed is objective truth, rightness, or
truthfulness as in truthtelling.  These validity claims are NOT acknowledged
by individuals who engage in strategic action.  Reaching understanding is one
of the major concepts underlying Habermas theory of communicative action.
However, I do not think that Habermas' earlier work about the emancipatory
interest is necessarily linked together with the concept of reaching
understanding.  

Habermas is making a simple distinction between strategic action and
communicative action.  Strategic action utilizes methods of deception whereas
communicative action utilizes method of coordinating action plans.  But,
reaching understanding is a concept within linguistically mediated interaction
which acknowledges the three validity claims
and cooperatively agrees to offer evidence towards these validity claims if
any warrants are issued.  

What Habermas does is analyze the effects of strategic action as compared to
communicative action on reproductive processes in the lifeworld and on
disturbances
in reproduction of the lifeworld.  The issue of emancipation is, I think, no
longer related to this new argument.  

Insofar as Habermas points up this duality between strategic and communicative
action, we can infer that people switch back and forth depending on their
interests, humans being what they are.  The issue I find intriguing is in the
area of establishing of interpersonal relations where Habermas says that the
validity claim of 'rightness' is paramount.  Now, communicative competence can
be evaluated individually on the basis of lifespan events
When we examine the extent of interpersonal conflict in the lifeworld, we may
come to certain conclusions about the prevalence of strategic action and its
effects.  Only if we
can turn to the model of reaching understanding as the antidote to this
prevailing hostility that we all live under, could we refer to emancipation.  

Fred Welfare
Teachers College, Columbia


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