Genealogy or Reconstruction of Postmetaphysical Thinking in the late work(s) of Jürgen Habermas?

Christian Thein (University of Münster)

Until recent days, the work of Jürgen Habermas is read in philosophical contexts against the background of his communication and discourse theory. This reception framework includes his extensive historical treatise 'Auch eine Geschichte der Philosophie' ('Also A History of Philosophy') from 2019. In this lecture, the late work of Jürgen Habermas will be classified in terms of its biography the same as its methodological approach to the history of Western ideas and philosophy in ‚Also A History of Philosophy‘. 

Therefore, two theses will be explained, which Christian Thein puts forward in his forthcoming book 'Habermas und die Genealogie des nachmetaphysischen Denkens' (Meiner, 2024): Firstly, the voluminous work, which is oriented towards the history of philosophy, emerges from a late phase of work that rests on changed philosophical motivations in Habermas' philosophy since the millennium. In the lecture, this thesis of a breaking line between the middle and late phase of his work will be spelled out in more detail. Secondly, it will be shown that the late historical work is not intended as a contribution to the historiography of philosophy, but as an approach to Western intellectual history under both genealogical and reconstructive aspects. This complex methodological approach will be explained and discussed in conclusion.