Towards a reconstruction of the concept of communication in sociology of Jurgen Habermas

Abstract

This article deals with the certain aspects of Habermas's conception of communication. The possibility of its application as a theoretical resource to investigation of social interaction is discussed. Habermas's conception of communication is based on transcendental-hermeneutical conceptualization of language (K.-O. Apel) where language is regarded as the condition of possibility of interaction and understanding. The author concentrates on the status of category of space in theory in order to demonstrate certain theoretical implications of this language conceptualization. The contradiction between the interpretativist's idea of understanding (A. Schutz) and the idea of understanding based on the universality of communicative competence is stated. Thus the fundamental distinction between the conceptualization of communication based on the universal standards of rationality and the conceptualization of communication based on the cultural patterns is articulated.