Selected Essays : Ethics and the Theory of Rationality

by Karl-Otto Apel, Eduardo Mendieta

This is the second volume of a two-volume collection of Karl-Otto Apel's selected essays, which gathers his most important work on discourse ethics and the communicative theory of rationality, both of which he has been elaborating since the late 60s with Juergen Habermas, his longtime friend and colleague at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. In addition to clarifying the foundations of de-ontological ethics, in the tradition of Kantian universalism and proceduralism, which nevertheless presupposes the "linguistic turn" (Peirce, Wittgenstein, Searle, Austin) of philosophy and the hermeneutical enlightenment tradition (Heidegger, Ricouer, Gadamer), the book also contributes greatly to the understanding of the difference between Apel's and Habermas's versions of discourse ethics. Whereas Habermas has elaborated his version of discourse ethics in terms of a theory of communicative action, individuation through socialization, and the internal reference between solidarity and justice, Apel has developed his discourse theory of ethics in terms of a theory of a typology of rationality. Most importantly, the book illustrates how a theory of rationality presupposes a theory of ethics and vice versa. This theme is explored via a detailed analysis of the different modalities of rationality, be it instrumental, practical or communicative. This collection should be useful to all scholars concerned with contemporary moral and ethical problems, contemporary history of philosophy, and the convergence and entwinement between analytical philosophy, pragmatism and Continental philosophy.

356 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

Karl-Otto Apel was a German philosopher and Professor Emeritus at the University of Frankfurt am Main. (Source: Wikipedia)