Abstract

I would like to deal with certain fragments of a thematic which has interested my colleagues and me in connection with an empirical investigation of the conflict and apathy potential of youths. We suspect that among the various models of socialization, among the typical patterns of adolescence, and the corresponding solutions of adolescent crisis and the forms of identity constructed by young people, there is a nexus which can explain deeper lying, politically relevant attitudes. Stating the problem in this way prompts us to consider moral development and ego identity. This theme transcends the above mentioned consideration and leads us to a fundamental question of critical social theory, namely to the question of the normative implications of the fundamental concepts of that theory.