Die Versprachlichung des Sakralen: The Transformation of the Authority of the Sacred into Secular Political Deliberation in Habermas' Theory of Communcative Action

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    Abstract

    Habermas claims in connection with his development of the theory of communicative action that the sacred is transformed in a positive way and can take the form of free deliberation in society, the so-called Versprachlichung des Sakralen. The thesis is that the authority which could be found in religion and which is of fundamental significance for the integration of pre-modern societies is taken over by modern societies in forms of deliberation. Habermas develops his thesis in a discussion of Durkheim’s religious-sociological considerations. Habermas presents his thesis about the linguistic transformation of the sacred as a harmonious theory of secularization. However, if we follow Weber in his religious-sociological considerations of modernity, we reach a tragic theory of secularization that poses the real problem that modernity’s connection to the sacred has been dissolved.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalNordicum-Mediterraneum
    Volume6
    Issue number1
    Number of pages16
    ISSN1670-6242
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

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