Open AccessPredicaments of Communication, Argument, and Power: Towards a Critical Theory of Controversy
Author(s) -
G. Thomas Goodnight
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
informal logic
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.368
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 2293-734X
pISSN - 0824-2577
DOI - 10.22329/il.v23i2.2163
Subject(s) - argumentation theory , epistemology , argument (complex analysis) , normative , communication studies , political communication , critical theory , sociology , power (physics) , politics , criticism , informal logic , political science , social science , law , philosophy , chemistry , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
A critical theory of controversy would require the integration ofthe normative study of argumentation with critical studies of practices. Jiirgen Habermas has made a substantial contribution to such a project by embedding argumentation in a theory of communication, while critically engaging academic and public debates. This essay explicates core concepts in Habermas's theory of argumentation, including his distinction between theory and practice, the different validity requirements for argumentation in general, the norms of moral and ethical-political argumentation and of bargaining. Argument predicaments are posited as ways to discover and assess different types of validityclaims competing as "the force ofthe better argument". Habermas's criticism of "administrative power" and "communicative power" illustrates a potential yield of critical inquiry into social controversy.