Communicative Action and Rational Choice (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought)

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 384 pages
• Published by: The MIT Press February 5, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0262082918
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0262082914
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 1.7 pounds

Product Review
"This book is an original and important contribution to the literature on Habermas and the theory of communicative action. It is without equal in working out the implications of Habermas's theory in the philosophy of language and social theory."
--James Bohman, Department of Philosophy, Saint Louis University

Product Description
In this book Joseph Heath brings Jürgen Habermas's theory of communicative action into dialogue with the most sophisticated articulation of the instrumental conception of practical rationality-modern rational choice theory. Heath begins with an overview of Habermas's action theory and his critique of decision and game theory. He then offers an alternative to Habermas's use of speech act theory to explain social order and outlines a multidimensional theory of rational action that includes norm-governed action as a specific type.

In the second part of the book Heath discusses the more philosophical dimension of Habermas's conception of practical rationality. He criticizes Habermas's attempt to introduce a universalization principle governing moral discourse, as well as his criteria for distinguishing between moral and ethical problems. Heath offers an alternative account of the level of convergence exhibited by moral argumentation, drawing on game-theoretic models to specify the burden of proof that the theory of communicative action and discourse must assume.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Communicative Action and Rational Choice (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought) (Paperback) I just finished Heath's book and found it to be extremely fascinating and well thought out. The problem is, I can't imagine many people who wouldn't find the title a little intimidating. I am an economics PHD student at UC Irvine, with special interests in critical theory, so I found it useful. The book is esentially an argument against instrumental rationality, especially that used by game theorists, using Habermas' theory of communicative action. If you don't know what all of those words mean in that last sentence but want to learn, then this book is great. If you do know what all of those words mean, you should definitely get this book.