Communicative Action: A Path to Dialogue in our Age

This article explores the theory of communicative action of the philosopher Jurgen Habermas as a path for dialogue in our age. Communicative action based on the intersubjectivity, rationality and force of argumentative speech stands in contrast to the boundary marking of hermeneutic idealism. Communicative action distinguishes between the particularity of one’s lifeworld and the universality of a system paradigm. This article argues that communicative action requires an individual to step outside the solipsism of their own lifeworld and to engage in a process of dialogue which acknowledges the importance of an individual’s particular religious interests but also impels them to listen to the interests of others.