Premium
Towards a Communication‐Concept of Rational Collective Will‐Formation. A Thought‐Experiment
Author(s) -
HABERMAS JÜRGEN
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
ratio juris
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.344
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 1467-9337
pISSN - 0952-1917
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9337.1989.tb00033.x
Subject(s) - legitimation , legitimacy , law and economics , morality , frame (networking) , politics , resolution (logic) , power (physics) , legislation , sociology , law , political science , epistemology , point (geometry) , positive economics , computer science , economics , philosophy , mathematics , geometry , telecommunications , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence
. Contractarian theories are meant to settle the issue of when political authority meets the conditions of rational legitimacy. The author addresses the same issue, but using different premises and a different conceptual frame. He takes as his point of departure the two basic problems which rational collective will‐formation refers to ‐ conflict‐resolution and goal attainment. He then introduces the codes of law and power, with which such will‐formation can be institutionalized. The legitimation gap that then still remains open can be filled by a practical reason which is not limited simply to morality but also permeates the procedures of law application, policy‐formation and legislation. These preliminary considerations remain within the limits of a thought‐experiment.