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Habermas' concept of “Lifeworld”

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Abstract

The philosophical basis for Jurgen Habermas' later work is a communicative one: our ability to understand nature, society, and even ourselves arises from our communication with each other. “Lifeworld” is a key concept in this work, elaborated well beyond the lifeworld concept in the work of, e.g., Schutz. This paper describes Habermas' theory, relating it to his theories of communicative action and of societal steering media. It also suggests some parallels with the work of Vickers and makes proposals for the practical use of Habermas' lifeworld concept.

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Fairtlough, G.H. Habermas' concept of “Lifeworld”. Systems Practice 4, 547–563 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01063113

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