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The purpose of this research was to identify and rank social factors effective in transforming Iran's public libraries into social centers and develop a conceptual model. This is a mixed research conducted with a systematic grounded theory approach. Four effective community factors in transforming public libraries into community centers were identified: 1. promotion of social activities, 2. participation of public groups, 3. awareness of the community situation, and 4. promotion of community skills. By applying the theory of the public sphere, public libraries can inform people about government decisions and facilitate public debate between the government and citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been numerous studies on Kant's concept of the 'Fact of Reason', drawing on various intellectual resources, ranging from metaphysics to psychology, from Aristotle to Mencius, from analytic philosophy to phenomenology, and beyond. How should we evaluate these studies? Is it possible that these studies can contribute both to an understanding of Kantian philosophy and to an understanding of Western philosophy as a whole, as well as shed light on the development of philosophy after Kant and on the philosophical questions of our own era? In order to at least partially clarify the above questions, this article will draw on the work of philosohers such as Karl-Otto Apel, Jürgen Habermas, C.I. Lewis, Jin Yuelin and Feng Qi, and discuss how certain presuppositions of communicative action can be both regulative and constitutive, how the same propositions can be both empirical and a priori, how the same concepts can both describe reality and regulate it, and how the 'Fact of Reason' can be understood as the 'Fact of Learning', in order to offer a new interpretation of Kant's concept of the 'Fact of Reason'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contributing to recent academic and public debates on how European democracies should respond to a scenario of "post-truth politics", this article explores the idea of democracy that underlies current regulatory responses in the "European Democracy Action Plan" (EDAP). It offers a conceptual analysis of the institutional narratives in the EDAP illustrating normative expectations of the public sphere and transformations of the basic concepts in the European polity. It revisits the famous Habermasian systemic view of deliberation emphasizing the interconnections of the social and institutional realms through the public sphere in democracies. We argue that previous scholarship has focused too much on the presumed loss of consensus originated from the digital transformations in the public sphere without taking into consideration other institutional changes within the EU. The analysis of the key concepts illustrates the normative expectations of specific measures and shows that there is evidence of a systemic view in the EDAP, with different modes of intervention, partially coherent with Habermas' normative expectations. We conclude that the vision of democracy in the EDAP has been developed for decades to legitimate the EU's development and initiatives, but that it also incorporates a reformulation of some concepts justified by a post-truth scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GeSec: Revista de Gestao e Secretariado is the property of Sindicato das Secretarias e Secretarios do Estado de Sao Paulo (SINSESP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article, we argue that the current concept of the legal subject should be expanded to include narrative identity, in other words that the narrative subject of law should be recognised. With this aim in mind, we firstly (i) identify the philosophical assumptions and tools necessary to articulate the thesis of homo narrans. We find them in Martin Heidegger's work Being and time, where he made a groundbreaking contribution to twentieth-century philosophy by deconstructing the concept of the subject. Then (ii) we discuss the key theoretical-legal assumptions and tools related to the legal turn we advocate, and finally (iii) we indicate – provisionally and in broad outline – the key consequences of recognising the narrative legal subject of law in the justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a reply to Elisabeth Korn and Jens Schröter’s essay “On a Potential Paradox of Public Service Media” which is part of tripleC’s special issue “Critical Perspectives on Digital Capitalism: Theories and Praxis”. My reflections focus on the notion of filtering, the relationship between broadcasting and the Internet; the relationship of media, technology, and society; and questions of (digital) democracy. On the one hand, there is a number of points where I agree with Korn and Schröter. On the other hand, their reflections also raised questions that I point out and that are not answered in their paper.

Current transformations of the public sphere are changing the perception of forms of participation in democracy by citizens. Apart from institutional forms, non-insti- tutional forms should also be noticed, which are undergoing dynamic changes. The constant tension between the trust arising from the representativeness of democracy and the need of citizens to control those in power is reflected in the needs of vigilance, notification and evaluation. The public sphere thus becomes the theatre of citizens’ actions on different planes – from participating in rallies and initiating legislative procedure to manifesting views in street protests. The proposed study deals with the distinction between institutional and non-institu- tional forms of participation by citizens in democratic processes.

В статье анализируется философско-мировоззренческое понятие «дух времени» в контексте научного диспута французского постструктуралиста Лиотара и немецких ученых — Юргена Хабермаса, Тильмана Борше, Манфреда Франка. Повествование включило обзор отдельных философских работ, которые имеют большое значение для развития художественной теории постмодерна. На примере кураторского замысла интернациональной выставки «Дух времени» («Zeitgeist», 1982, ФРГ, Берлин) выявлена идейная и образная основа «духа времени», связанного с принципами восприятия классического наследия в искусстве постмодерна. Сделана характеристика крупных произведений художников Йозефа Бойса, Зигмара Польке, Георга Базелица и др. Обоснован вывод о реконтекстуализации самого понятия «дух времени» в эпоху постмодерна. Данная работа выполнена с использованием иконографического и семиотического методов искусствоведческого анализа.

The most consequential distinction Habermas draws between Marx's and his own utopia of emancipation is that societal differentiation, in the former, is dissolved into the lifeworld, whereas in the latter it is preserved as an accomplishment of and necessary for the reproduction of modern complex societies. Despite Habermas's intention and arguments, his radical democratic utopia entails lifeworldization—in which the primacy of communicative reason is affirmed in all spheres of action as well as societal integration, which, however, can take a variety of modi operandi ranging from external influence to direct communicative coordination. This article makes a case for the lifeworldization thesis with the following arguments. First, contrary to Habermas's intention, "influence" and "countersteering," if successfully asserted, result in an ontological condition that amounts to lifeworldization. Second, Habermas's defense of differentiation and critique of dedifferentiation, which is predicated on his critique of society as a totality, is discredited by his own argument for the need of (re)integration of complexities of modern society and its necessary normative grounding. Third, the prescription of keeping the "internal logic" of steering media intact as constitutive of radical democracy is problematic both empirically and normatively. Fourth, for the functional coherence of radical democracy, "efficiency," conceived systems-theoretically, must be abandoned and, instead, be reconceived postmetaphysically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Jürgen Habermas is one of postwar Europe's leading philosophers and public intellectuals, the secondary literature often portrays him as an apolitical thinker with little interest in "real politics." This article demonstrates that from the beginning of his career Habermas was an intensely political thinker, who tried to mediate his political convictions and philosophical interests. Drawing on articles he produced as a freelance journalist before arriving at the Institute for Social Research in 1956—as well as the correspondence contained in the Habermas archives at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main—the article shows that Habermas sought to combine his political and philosophical interests from the start. It argues that these relatively unknown and understudied texts highlight the development of Habermas's understanding of the relationship of theory to practice and also help explain his attraction to the Frankfurt School in general, as well as to Theodor Adorno specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of international mindedness (IM) underscores international baccalaureate (IB) programmes and acts as a universal principle for teaching and learning. Despite its prioritisation, it is unclear how practitioners, parents, and students enact IM in schools individually and collectively. In this article, I present research highlighting the development of IM in an IB school. The research findings prioritise an international approach to education reliant on the distillation of values, the rationalisation of transparency and overcoming self-determinism. These findings are further analysed through Jürgen Habermas' (1991) theory of communicative action illustrating the breadth and depth of IM application, including its emancipatory potential. My analysis shows that while the international school community members agree with the fundamentals of the IB's frameworks, they note the challenges of IM practice influenced by the steering powers of IB corporatism. This article will interest educators, leaders and policymakers seeking penetrative interpretations of international education and critical praxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annual of the Faculty of Law / Godišnjak Fakulteta Pravnih Nauka is the property of Pan-European University Apeiron and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ota Weinberger was a Czech-Austrian jurist, whose core academic work on issues of democracy was mostly published in the 1990s. In his writings, he focused primarily on legal philosophy from a positivist perspective. However, there are also significant overlaps with the field of political theory as Weinberger examined the conditions for the functioning of contemporary democracies. In this paper, some of the main features of his conception of the so-called "structured democracy" are clarified. The conception opposed several other democratic theories, especially the elitist (Schumpeterian), the majoritarian, but also the discursive one, as represented by Jürgen Habermas, with whom Weinberger fundamentally disagreed. The paper focuses on several key elements of his theory, such as the leading ideas, the role of institutions, open society, and his critique of marketing methods in politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a decolonial perspective, Habermas' theory is seen by many as Eurocentric and in philosophical alliance with colonial rule. In particular, his theory of progress is seen as offensive because it devalues non-Western ways of understanding in comparison to their modern Western counterparts. On the one hand, this is true. On the other hand, Habermas' actual concept of progress can also be used to formulate a critique of colonialist development imperatives. Moreover, his concept of "systematically distorted communication" can make an interesting contribution to understanding colonial rule: even colonial rule is communicatively mediated, with the constant risk of dissent precariously held in check by racist discourse barriers. Fanon already provides strong starting points for this communication-theoretical view of colonial rule. With him, the decolonial struggles against racist discourse barriers also come into view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author of the study employs the perspective of Czech structural aesthetics to comment on Jürgen Habermas’s critique of Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction. Following Roman Jakobson, Habermas relies on a hierarchical model of linguistic functions and criticizes Derrida’s over-generalization of the poetic function to all types of discourses. Habermas evaluates this as Derrida’s attempt to level the boundaries and distinctions between philosophy and literature. The study points out the inadequacy of Habermas’s critique and shows that Derrida’s approach corresponds to the contamination model of functions originally proposed by Jan Mukařovský. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Academic Social Science Studies is the property of Journal of Academic Social Science Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Habermas’s theory of communicative action is highly relevant as a philosophical foundation for upholding human rights, emphasizing the intrinsic value of each individual, which must not be eliminated by any power. This is supported by Article 6 paragraph (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified as Law Number 12 of 2005. Critical theory, a school of philosophy, focuses on liberating human knowledge from transcendental and empirical oppression, critiquing ideologies that perpetuate social oppression. Human rights have become a dynamic issue in Indonesia, especially during the Presidential Election, with widespread discussions at national and international levels. Countries, organizations, and individuals are increasingly voicing concerns about human rights issues. These problems are complex, particularly in resolving and sanctioning perpetrators, leading some to view human rights as “merely theoretical.” Applying critical theory is crucial in this context, as perfected by Jürgen Habermas. This research employs normative methods, including statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. It concludes that Jürgen Habermas’s theory of communicative action and John Locke’s natural law are similar, emphasizing the inherent meaning of external rights. This grounding makes Habermas’s theory important for upholding law and human rights internationally, although its implementation remains ambiguous. Abstrak Teori kritis tindakan komunikatif Habermas sangat relevan sebagai fondasi filosofis penegakan HAM yang menekankan nilai intrinsik setiap individu, yang tidak boleh dihilangkan oleh kekuasaan mana pun, sesuai dengan Pasal 6 ayat (1) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights yang diratifikasi menjadi Undang-Undang Nomor 12 Tahun 2005. Teori kritis adalah aliran filsafat tentang pembebasan pengetahuan manusia dari segala bentuk penindasan transendental dan empiris. Ide teori kritis adalah kritik terhadap ideologi yang bertujuan menyadarkan manusia akan penindasan sosial dan mencoba membebaskannya. Isu HAM menjadi perbincangan dinamis di Indonesia, terutama pada saat pemilihan presiden, serta di dunia internasional. Berbagai negara, organisasi, dan individu menyuarakan sudut pandang HAM yang ada. Problematika HAM sulit diselesaikan dan penerapan sanksi bagi pelaku sering dianggap “teorik belaka.” Penerapan teori tindakan komunikatif ini penting terkait HAM karena disempurnakan oleh Jürgen Habermas. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian normatif dengan pendekatan perundang-undangan, konseptual, dan kasus. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya kesamaan konsep antara teori kritis Jürgen Habermas dan aliran hukum kodrat John Locke, yang menekankan hak-hak lahiriah. Teori Jürgen Habermas menjadi penting untuk penegakan hukum dan HAM di dunia internasional, meskipun penerapannya masih ambigu.

Social movements like BLM and Rhodes Must Fall have recently re-emphasized the need for "working through" our collective past. I argue that we must be careful to distinguish two distinct and sometimes conflicting understandings of what it means to work through the past. An "idealist" understanding which sees "working through" as a process of self-enlightenment and moral learning through uncovering and acknowledging past moral failures and incorporating them into our collective self-image. The "materialist paradigm", in contrast, understands "working through" as a process of uncovering the ways in which the structural causes of past moral catastrophe have endured into the present. It rejects idealist calls for reconciliation with the past and present and aims at the negative goal of preventing future moral catastrophe through changing tainted social structures. I argue, finally, that effective processes of working through the past have to engage in both idealist myth-building and materialist deconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is much in Hortense Spillers's work to celebrate—from black feminism to literary criticism. One of her crucial contributions, however, has received little, if any, scholarly attention. Calvin Warren calls this a black discourse theory. Although we've focused on "the American Grammar Book" and its discursive violence, her proposed "solution" to this violence is virtually neglected. These remarks are intended to foreground this intervention by reconstructing her discourse theory of "the One" and "Interior Intersubjectivity." In particular Warren notes the influence of Jürgen Habermas on her discourse theory, and how both find psychoanalysis beneficial in the task of restoring speech and addressing muteness. In short, this reconstruction provides a brief overview of the theoretical infrastructure rather than an exhaustive exposition and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most successful and influential contributions to examining the intersection between society and its effect on public action is Jurgen Habermas's landmark The structural transformation of the public space (1962). But as subsequent scholars pointed out, the Habermasian definition of "public sphere" needed to be expanded beyond its original historical context. This article contributes to that ongoing expansion by arguing that a social movement in the United States, social justice feminism, created an alternative public space in the United States by 1907 to the mainstream discourse championed by patriarchal political and social leaders about the effects of the Second Industrial Revolution. The alternative social justice feminist public space differed from Habermas's original conception in three important ways: it involved a more ideological viewpoint; it encompassed a myriad of cross-class and cross-gender coalitions; and the movement embraced direct political action, promoting and passing women's labor legislation as an "entering wedge" for the eventual inclusion of all workers under state protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All the aspects and dimensions that can be rightfully identified as playing essential parts within the current tragedy of democracy do share a common reference point: the public sphere. In the absence of a public sphere, no political change can take place democratically. This introduction to the special issue, which continues the debate about the public sphere from a broadly understood critical theory perspective, tries to substantiate the two initial claims and briefly presents the line of argument inherent to this special issue and its contributions. The collected contributions intervene or elaborate on the following conceptional or practical problems within the nexus of democracy and the public sphere, such as the critical relations between cultural industry and post-truth democracy; the contested relationship between the public sphere and labour; epistemological challenges predating normative questions; the relevance and transformation of concrete constellations between speakers and listeners, fragmentation and polarization within the public sphere; communicative pathologies; the digitalization of communication; altered and threatened media system services to functioning democracies; displacement and commodification of communication; the need for new forms of techno-politics; problems and challenges of Open Access; and the potential transnationalization of the public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I argue that concern with the public sphere and the necessary conditions for a genuine democracy can be seen as a central theme of Jurgen Habermas's work that deserves respect and critical scrutiny in the contemporary moment, when throughout the world liberal democracies are in crisis. My study intends to point to the continuing importance of Habermas' problematic of the public sphere and its relevance for debates over democratic politics and social and cultural life in the present age, in an era in which the Occupy Movements, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, the Trump Resistance Movement, and Ukraine and Palestine Solidarity groups use social media to struggle against multiple forms of oppression. At stake is delineating a concept of the public sphere which facilitates maximum public participation and debate over the key issues of the contemporary era and which consequently promotes the cause of radical democracy and social transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al-Muntaqa: New Perspectives on Arab Studies is the property of Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article, which serves as an introduction to a special issue on humour and the public sphere, we argue that humour has become increasingly central to public discourse in the 21st century, and that this necessitates a rethinking of the relationship between humour and the public sphere in contemporary democracies. In the article, we bring together the dispersed academic literature on humour and the public sphere, and show how humour and comedy scholars have engaged with the long-standing academic debate around this contested concept, which was coined by Jürgen Habermas in 1962. We also introduce the eleven contributions to this special issue and situate them within this ongoing debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the important yet controversial role of scientific expertise in public life. While existing debates focus mostly on necessary changes to (1) how experts are involved in public and political debates or (2) the way science itself is conducted, we conceptualise role of digital technology and the rise of the "new" social media through the theoretical framework provided by Jürgen Habermas. Drawing on Habermas's recent reflections on the new "structural transformation" of the digital public sphere, we identify two areas where science and its interaction in the public sphere can be improved to address declining trust in scientific expertise: namely, digital design and user education. On the one hand, democracies need to focus on the architecture of the public sphere when trying to re-establish trust in science. On the other hand, individual user education addresses the choices individuals are making regarding which information they use when they engage in public debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly become one of the technologies used for competitive advantage. However, there are also growing concerns about bias in AI models as AI developers risk introducing bias both unintentionally and intentionally. This study, using a qualitative approach, investigated how AI developers can contribute to the development of fair AI models. The key findings reveal that the risk of bias is mainly because of the lack of gender and social diversity in AI development teams, and haste from AI managers to deliver much-anticipated results. The integrity of AI developers is also critical as they may conceal bias from management and other AI stakeholders. The testing phase before model deployment risks bias because it is rarely representative of the diverse societal groups that may be affected. The study makes practical recommendations in four main areas: governance, social, technical, and training and development processes. Responsible organisations need to take deliberate actions to ensure that their AI developers adhere to fair processes when developing AI; AI developers must prioritise ethical considerations and consider the impact their models may have on society; partnerships between AI developers, AI stakeholders, and society that might be impacted by AI models should be established; and AI developers need to prioritise transparency and explainability in their models while ensuring adequate testing for bias and corrective measures before deployment. Emotional intelligence training should also be provided to the AI developers to help them engage in productive conversations with individuals outside the development team.

The aim of this contribution is to critically introduce and assess the Frankfurt School’s theory of late capitalism as it emerged in the 1970s, when a combined crisis of inflation and stagnation began to unravel the Keynesian orthodoxies of state-organised capitalism. In the process, Frankfurt theorists such as Jürgen Habermas and Claus Offe developed powerful critiques of commodification and juridification. The origins of their theory of late capitalism are first traced to the interwar debates on the Weimar Constitution – Germany’s first experiment in both constitutional and economic democracy. The rest of the Article takes a closer look at the Frankfurt School’s changing posture towards economic democracy in the 1970s. Accordingly, I first reiterate how the theory of late capitalism converged with that of the other major crisis theory of the time – the neo-conservative theory of ‘ungovernability’. In diagnosing the ‘governability crisis’ as a crisis of democracy, the Frankfurt School’s increasing pessimism about democracy’s economic reach becomes apparent. Secondly, by looking at the way the Frankfurt School perceived the emergence of the ‘neoliberal’ alternative in the early 1980s, I also argue that the theory of late capitalism had, and did, little to resist the de-democratisation of the economy through the rise of economic constitutionalism in the 1980s. As the welfare state was caught between the two logics of commodification and juridification, economic democracy was its unwitting victim.

Objective: Today, in addition to their traditional role in accessing books, and providing a place for reading and other recreational and recreational purposes, public libraries are considered as spaces of society that also have important social roles and functions. This research was conducted with the aim of identifying and ranking cultural factors affecting the role of Iran's public libraries as community centers, and in order to provide a conceptual model in this field, based on Jürgen Habermas' theory of the public sphere.Methodology: This research is applied in terms of its purpose; In terms of data collection, survey; And in terms of the nature of the data, it is a mixed research of an exploratory type, which was carried out with a systematic approach of database theorizing. In the qualitative part, effective factors were identified by conducting 33 interviews and 2 focus groups (each group has 4 people and a total of 8 people). The validity of these factors was confirmed by using the content validity ratio (CVR) index, and their reliability was confirmed through the Fleiss' kappa coefficient test. In the quantitative part, the reliability of the tool was confirmed using a questionnaire consisting of 16 items and with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.91. Finally, factors were ranked by Shannon's entropy method.Findings: The findings showed that three cultural factors, including local discourse, the arena of understanding and cultural diffusion, are effective in playing the role of public libraries as community centers. Meanwhile, the field of understanding is considered the most important factor and cultural diffusion has the least effect in this field. All factors had content validity higher than 0.33 and Kappa coefficient higher than 0.7, so all of them have the necessary validity and reliability. Finally, the conceptual model of the research was designed and drawn in six sections.Conclusion: Jürgen Habermas' theory of the public sphere is one of the sociological theories, which is close to the goals and mission of public libraries. On the other hand, the culture factor is a fundamental factor for playing the role of public libraries as community centers. In this regard, many people may still think that public libraries are a place only for reading, but a review of the various actions and activities of public libraries shows that these places carry out various activities that advance the cultural development of societies. In this way, public libraries play a prominent role in carrying out cultural activities. In order to fulfill its role as a community center, public libraries need to promote the native discourse of the society, be a safe arena for free discussion and understanding of different sections of the society, and spread culture in local communities.

A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo discutir a construção da teoria de interpretação judicial de Jürgen Habermas, considerando a maneira que este filósofo se vale das ideias de Ronald Dworkin e de Klaus Günther. Utiliza do método indutivo baseado nas obras dos teóricos mencionados. Identifica que Habermas considera como insuficiente os métodos tradicionais da interpretação e que é necessário resolver a questão interna entre facticidade e validade que se dá no discurso jurídico. Visualiza que Habermas utiliza da teoria de Ronald Dworkin para resolver o primeiro estágio da referida tensão a partir do recurso aos princípios e do direito como integridade. Compreende que Habermas se vale da teoria de Klaus Günther para dividir os discursos de validade dos discursos de adequação, permitindo separar os discursos jurídicos dos discursos morais. Entende que Habermas constrói uma teoria que tem base procedimental e parte da aplicação do princípio do discurso a partir do direito processual. Ao final, conclui que Habermas traz uma proposta teórica generalista, baseada em releitura procedimental de Ronald Dworkin e que deixa uma lacuna para ser preenchida quanto à dinâmica dos discursos jurídicos.

What are the reasons that lead Max Weber to be a convinced promoter of publicity in the practices of internal politics and, by contrast, advocate secret procedures in international affairs? The analysis aims at clarifying the different arguments utilised by Weber for justifying his apparently contrasting points of view and explains the reasonable motivations that are adduced to legitimate both issues. Since admitting confidential practices does not mean the acceptance of arbitrariness and bare demonstrations of power, it also highlights how Weber accompanies his considerations on the opportunity of the use of confidentiality with the determination of corresponding criteria that have to regulate and circumscribe its use. The present analysis is completed with a comparison with the positions formulated respectively by Immanuel Kant and Jürgen Habermas, who both plead for a public course of politics to be also applied in international affairs and, as a consequence, explicitly reject confidentiality as a legitimate form of dealing with political issues. Finally, it faces the question whether and in which form Weber’s standpoint contrasts with their positions and what are the reasons motivating his different assessments.

The purpose of this article is to thoroughly research Habermas’ view of technology with regard to his discourse ethics. In the first part of the article, Habermas’ theoretical starting points concerning the question of technology are presented. In the next segment, findings are presented, which can be traced mainly in an indirect way from Habermas’ discussions on media theory and from his theory of the colonization of the lifeworld. In the next step, Habermas’ relation to the phenomenon of mass media is addressed. The mass media are understood as a concrete expression of modern progress and are closely linked to technological development. In the last part of the article, Habermas’ relation to the internet is presented. The internet is widely considered an alternative to the mass media in modern times. The article presents a holistic analysis of Habermas’ relation to technology. It also presents some interesting findings regarding Habermas’ positioning towards the mass media and the internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Critique of Law: Independent Legal Studies / Krytyka Prawa: Niezalezne Studia nad Prawem is the property of Akademia Leona Kozminskiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)