The Limits of Synthesis: Some Comments on Habermas' Recent Sociological Writings.

There is a growing schism in the ranks of critical theory. The division has become serious enough that everyone now find it necessary to distinguish between the "classical critical theory" of the Frankfurt School and those revisions of critical thought, which presently abound in the social sciences. This revisionism is characterized by its rejection of the classical paradigm's commitment to the premises of Western Marxism. It replaces the materialism and dialectical method of classical critical theory with a variety of theoretical alternatives such as language theory, an upgraded form of hermeneutic interpretation, or a recrudescent neofunctionalism. The paper discusses this revisionist trend as it has developed in the works of Jurgen Habermas. It begins by first tracing Habermas' theoretical odyssey from its origins in Western Marxism, to its current terminus in a neo-functionalist systems theory. Once having charted this trek, the author will then critically evaluate the adequacy of the political economy that grounds Habermas' mature sociological theory.