Observations on "The Spiritual Situation of the Age"

by Jürgen Habermas (Editor)

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The essays in this collection provide an unusually intense portrait of a society and an age. They offer penetrating insights into past and present developments in Germany, shedding new light on that society and our own. In mid 1978, German philosopher Jürgen Habermas invited a group of colleagues (chosen on the basis of an "informed arbitrariness") to contribute to volume 1000 of the edition suhrkamp, a series that had helped focus the intellectual revival of the German left in the postwar show more period. His suggested reference point for the volume was Karl Jaspers's eerily prophetic 1931 essay on "The Spiritual Situation of the Age," which appeared just two years before Hitler's assumption of power. Habermas's invitation invoked a rich set of original reflections on current political, social, cultural, religious, and intellectual life. Thomas McCarthy and Andrew Buchwalter have selected 13 of these essays with the original introduction by Habermas for inclusion in this book. The essays have been divided into five parts: Perspectives on Politics and Society (Wolf-Dieter Narr, Claus Offe, Ulrich Preuss); Perspectives on Culture and Religion (Karl Heinz Bohrer, Dorothee Sölle, Johann Baptist Metz); Perspectives on the Geisteswissenschaften (Jürgen Moltmann, Peter Burger, Hans-Ulrich Wehler); Perspectives on German Affairs (Hans Mommsen, Albrecht Wellmer, Horst Ehmke); Unconcluding Reflections (Dieter Wellershoff). This book is eighth in the series Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought, edited by Thomas McCarthy. show less

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236+ Works 9,408 Members
Jurgen Habermas is a German sociologist who studied at the universities of Gottingen, Zurich, and Bonn. He taught at Frankfurt am Main, Marburg, and Heidelberg before becoming professor of philosophy at the University of Frankfurt. His works, widely translated, have made him one of the most influential social theorists of our time. Habermas is show more considered by some to be an intellectual heir to Max Weber and what has been called the Frankfurt School. His work has centered mainly on the role of communication and technology in changing patterns of social relations, human activity, and values. An outspoken advocate of the Enlightenment and a champion of reason, he has also cautioned that the technical rationality associated with modern capitalism often functions as ideology and may stand in the way of human progress. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Buchwalter, Andrew (Translator)

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Observations on "The Spiritual Situation of the Age"
Original title
Stichworte zur ›Geistigen Situation der Zeit‹
Original publication date
1979

Classifications

Genres
Nonfiction, Philosophy, Politics and Government, Religion & Spirituality, History, Literature Studies and Criticism, Sociology, General Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
320.943Society, government, & culturePolitical scienceTypes of GovernmentPolitical situation and conditionsEuropeGermany & Central Europe
LCC
DD259.4 .S83313History of Europe, Asia, Africa and OceaniaGermanyHistory of GermanyWest Germany
BISAC

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Languages
English
Media
Paper
ISBNs
2