Habermas' concept of the Lifeworld

8/12/2019 Habermas' concept of the Lifeworld

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Faculdade de Direito

Universidade de Braslia

Brasilia, Junho 2014.

Concept of Lifeorld of Juer!en "a#er$as

%studante& 'an(a )ru(ic

*at+ria& tica e direito

-rofessor& *iroslav *ilovic

Abstract: n this short essa/, shall reflect upon the concept of the liveorld Lebenswelt develop

in the ritin! of the Juer!en "a#er$as, $ore specificall/ in the 'olu$e to of his #oo The

Theory of the Communicative Actionhere he develops this notion. 3he essa/ ill start ith the

short introduction here $ain #ac!round ideas and concept a#out theor/ of co$$unicative action

ill #e presented in order to $aintain #etter understandin! of the contet in hich "a#er$as

developed his thinin! upon lifeolrd. Later, the $ain characteristics of the Lebenswelt ill #e

shon throu!h to $ain points, that ill #e folloed ith the part here the concept of the to5

level social inte!ration social and s/ste$atic shall #e ea$ined. 6n the a/ to the conclusion,

uncouplin! of these levels of social realit/ ill #e shon as a part of $odernit/ and process of

$oderni7ation.


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Introduction from the Theory of the Communicative Action

n his #oo 83heor/ of Co$$unicative 9ction8 "a#er$as ill !ive !round points to his

philosophical clai$s and approach to the $odern orld. n the second 'olu$e of the #oo he ill

rite a#out concept of the :lifeorld:, a#out to level social realit/ here lifeord #eco$esuncoupled fro$ the s/ste$ orld. Before revilin! the $ain characteristics of the notion lifeorld,

$ain points fro$ "a#er$as: theor/ of the Co$$unicative 9ction shall #e presented. "e has

adopted three5orld concept and accordin! to the$ three validit/ clai$s that !ive rational

fra$eor hich is assu$ed #/ the actors in their social interactions.

1 6#(ective orld here so$ethin! is o#tain or can #e #rou!ht and state$ent is true. t epresses

hat is the case in the orld, and a directive is successful in #rin!in! a#out a desired state ofaffairs.

2 ;ocial orld here so$ethin! is o#li!ator/ and state$ent is ri!ht. ?@, 114.


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constituted #/ the division of la#our "a#er$as, 1>?@, 114A11. Connected to this :transition: is a

develop$ent of the :social partner: to the develop$ent of the la#our division. Durhei$ ill rite

that even the or!anic for$ of social solidarit/ has to #e secured #/ values and nor$s lie

$echanical social societies is the epression of a collective consciousness, hoever altered in its

structure "a#er$as, 1>?@, 11. Beside the later parado, "a#er$as ill a!ree and later use in hissocial thinin!s, that there $ust #e a causal connection #eteen the !roin! differentiation of the

social s/ste$ and the develop$ent of independent $oralit/ effective for the inte!ration.

The lifeworld

9fter short introduction has #een presented, ill reflect on the "a#er$as: concept of the

lifeorld usin! the to levels of the anal/ses in the or of vovic, Habermas Concept ofSystemic Colonization of Lifeworld.

1 understanding that the social integration of modern societies is made by communicative action

6n this level, the lifeorld is related to the three orlds e eplained at the #e!innin! of the

tet. 3hat $ean that the su#(ects in the lifeorld orient their actin! to the $utual understandin!

#ased on their co$$on definitions of situations. ;een lie this, the notion of lifeorld is as a

$acrostucture, as a totalit/ of social realit/ in hich the three orlds o#(ective, nor$ative and

su#(ective are connected and reinterpreted #/ co$$unication and culture stocs. n the #oo,

"a#er$as ill sho this virtue of the lifeorld on the ea$ple of the co$$unicative action

#eteen to orers on the constructin! site, here the older one ill !ive an order to the /oun!er

orer. n that co$$unicative relation, "a#er$as ill sa/, e can see the spatio5te$poral

di$ension, also as e can notice a nor$ative fra$eor in a !iven situation, hich $eans that in

this ea$ple, lie in ever/ other, the co$$unicative action in the lifeorld is ala/s connected to

the three orlds and the co$$on definitions that actors are #rin!in! fro$ those orlds.

2second level is phenomenological and lifeworld here is seen as a framewor for the mutual

understanding

Used as a pheno$enon, lifeorld can eplain those spatio5te$poral and social

or!ani7ations. 6n the sa$e ea$ple of the older and /oun!er orer, "a#er$as #/ $ain! so$e

chan!es in the stor/, addin! so$e ne infor$ation, shos ho lifeorld is a $ovea#le structure

here the chan!e $aes a shift in it. "ere he ill use the ord :hori7on: fro$ "usserl.


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chan!es occur, the one actor ill have to redefine the situation #/ usin! a ne definitions or

ar!u$ents the other actor #rou!ht in the relation. 3his redefinition of the co$$unication situation,

is #ased on suppositions of co$$onalit/ in respect to the o#(ective, social and each other:s on

su#(ective orld. ;till, $ost i$portant here is a noled!e that is co$in! fro$ the cultural stocs.

3hese stocs are $ain! the relation #eteen the actors alread/ pre5interpreted and that is h/hen the shift happens e can redefine the situation due to this pre5interpretation. "a#er$as ill

sa/ that e can never find ourselves in a void, even if e !o out of the hori7on #ecause culture

stoc is 8ala/s alread/8 fa$iliar. 6n the a/ to conclude, the lifeorld is constitutive $utual

understandin!, here speaer and hearer co$e to an understandin! fro$ out of their co$$on

lifeorld a#out so$ethin! in the o#(ective, social and su#(ective orlds "a#er$as, 1>?@, 12.

Two-level social reality and its uncoupling

?@, 1@. 3his is idealistic,

still $ore s/ste$ !ets developed, $ore lifeorld #eco$es $ore suppress and $ore provincial. 3his

is hen the uncouplin! ill start, #ecause the develop$ent of the one social level, ill #eco$e


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$ore independent and separated fro$ the develop$ent of the other. n a differentiated social

s/ste$s the lifeorld see$s to shrin to a su#s/ste$ "a#er$as, 1>?@, 1@=. 3he $odel he ill

su!!est is #rin!in! social idea to the #e!innin!s sa/in! that as the ne $echanis$s are #ein!

adopted, the/ suppose to #e anchored in the lifeorld via fa$il/ status, authorit/ of the office etc.

"a#er$as rites& 8this #asic institutions for$ a series of evolutionar/ inovations that can co$ea#out onl/ if the lifeorld is sufficientl/ rationali7ed, a#ove all if la and $oralit/ have reached a

correspondin! sta!e of develop$ent8 "a#er$as, 1>?@, 1@=. ;i$pl/ put, the ne $echanis$s that

are co$in! fro$ the s/ste$ differentiation, need to #e institutionali7ed #/ $ain! the chan!es in

the $oral5le!al fra$e of the institutional do$ain. 3hat $eans that the social inte!ration is

connected to the develop$ent of la and $oralit/. "a#er$as ill !ive three sta!es in this la

develop$ent& first, here $oral and la are not separated second, here the separation is startin!

#/ processes of differentiation and third, hen $oralit/ is deinstitutionalised to such an etent thatis no anchored onl/ in the personalit/ s/ste$ as an internal control of #ehaviour "a#er$as,

1>?@, 1@4. >, Beo!rad.

vovic, *ar(an, "a#er$as Concept of ;/ste$ic Coloni7ation of Lifeorld, 2010, Sociologi!a 'ol.

L 2010, K 1, Beo!rad.


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Habermas' concept of the Lifeworld