Jürgen Habermas

Jürgen Habermas is a German philosopher and sociologist associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory who developed a comprehensive theory of communicative rationality and discourse ethics. Against both positivism and postmodernism, Habermas argued that reason finds its proper home in undistorted communication — dialogue governed by the "force of the better argument" rather than power or strategic interest. His theory of the public sphere, his discourse ethics, and his account of communicative action have been influential across philosophy, sociology, law, and political theory.