Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

The Attitude to Marxism

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Habermas between Critical Theory and Liberalism

  • 150 Accesses

Abstract

As a part of critical theory, Habermas in one part of his theoretical opus is a representative of Marxism, but when trying to reform its most significant concept—historical materialism, Habermas became convinced that it shows such weaknesses that it is better to build a completely new theory, than to rehabilitate Marxism. In this chapter, Habermas’s attitude toward several concepts of Marxism is presented, from which significant differences can be seen in relation to the working class, the relationship between theory and practice, ideology, etc. Habermas’s break with Marxism opened up space to develop a completely new discursive theory, which includes his communication theory and the theory of the public sphere.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from €39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Chapter
EUR 29.95
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
EUR 96.29
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
EUR 128.39
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
EUR 128.39
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

') var buybox = document.querySelector("[data-id=id_"+ timestamp +"]").parentNode var buyingOptions = buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option") ;[].slice.call(buyingOptions).forEach(initCollapsibles) var buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth = 480 function initCollapsibles(subscription, index) { var toggle = subscription.querySelector(".buying-option-price") subscription.classList.remove("expanded") var form = subscription.querySelector(".buying-option-form") var priceInfo = subscription.querySelector(".price-info") var buyingOption = toggle.parentElement if (toggle && form && priceInfo) { toggle.setAttribute("role", "button") toggle.setAttribute("tabindex", "0") toggle.addEventListener("click", function (event) { var expandedBuyingOptions = buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option.expanded") var buyboxWidth = buybox.offsetWidth ;[].slice.call(expandedBuyingOptions).forEach(function(option) { if (buyboxWidth buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth) { toggle.click() } else { if (index === 0) { toggle.click() } else { toggle.setAttribute("aria-expanded", "false") form.hidden = "hidden" priceInfo.hidden = "hidden" } } }) } initialStateOpen() if (window.buyboxInitialised) return window.buyboxInitialised = true initKeyControls() })()

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alexander, C. Jeffrey (2014) The Antinomies of Classical Thought: Marx and Durkheim; London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baxter, Hugh (2011) Habermas: The Discourse Theory of Law and Politics; Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Baynes, Kenneth (2016) Habermas; London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bottomore, Tom (1984) The Frankfurt School. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boucher, Geoff (2012) Understanding Marxism; London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braaten, Jane (1991) Habermas’s Critical Theory of Society; New York: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calhoun, Craig (1992) Habermas and the Public Sphere; Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahms F. Harry (1918) “Critical Theory Derailed: Paradigm Fetishism and Critical Liberalism in Honneth (and Habermas)” In Axel Honneth and the Critical Theory of Recognition, Schmitz Volker (ed.), Cham: Springer Verlag

    Google Scholar 

  • Demirovic, Alex (2020) “Jürgen Habermas (1929–)” In Routledge Handbook of Marxism and Post-Marxism; London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edgar, Andrew (2006) Habermas: The Kew Concepts; London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Edgar, Andrey (2005) The Philosophy of Habermas; Montreal: McGill University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Finlayson, Gordon James (2005) Habermas A Very Short Introduction; New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Flood, Tony (1978) Jurgen Habermas’s Critique of Marxism; Science and Society, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 448–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geuss, Raymond (1981) The Idea of a Critical Theory: Habermas and the Frankfurt School; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gjuraj, Tonin, Tarifa, Fatos (2011) The Habermasean (De) Reconstruction of Marx’s Paradigm; International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 285–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen (1991) Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Investigation of a Category of Bourgeois Society; Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen (1987) The Theory of Communicative Action: Lifeworld and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason. Vol. 2; Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen (1986) Autonomy and Solidarity: Interviews with Jürgen Habermas, London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen (1979) Communication and Evolution of Society; Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen (1976) Legitimation Crisis, Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen (1974) Habermas Talking: An Interview; Theory and Society, vol. 1, pp. 37–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen (1971) Тoward a Rational Society: Student Protest, Science, and Politics; Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen (1963) Theory and Practice; Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen (1991) Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Investigation of a Category of Bourgeois Society; Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heller, Agnes (1982) Habermas and Marxism. In: Thompson, J.B., Held, D. (eds) Habermas. Contemporary Social Theory. London: Palgrave,. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16763-0_2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holub, C. Robert (2013) Jürgen Habermas: Critic in Public Sphere; New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Honneth, Ahex (1991) The Critique of Power: Reflective Stages in a Critical Social Theory. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ingram, David (2010) Habermas: Introduction and Analysis; Ithaca: Cornell University Press .

    Google Scholar 

  • Jay, Marin (1984) Marxism and Totality; Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, Sarah (2014) Political Theory and Power; New Delphi: Foundation Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langsdorf, Lenore (2000) “The Real Condition for the Possibility of Communicative Action” In Perspectives on Habermas; Hahn Edwin Lewis (ed.), Chicago: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, S. Nancy (2006) “What’s Left from Marx?” In The Cambridge Companion to Habermas; White K. Stephen (ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, L. James (2000) “What’s Critical About Critical Theory” In Perspectives on Habermas; Hahn Edwin Lewis (ed.), Chicago: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, Karl, Engels, Frederick (1989) The German Ideology, London: Lawrence & Wishart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, Karl, Engels, Frederick (1978) The Marx-Engels Reader, Robert Tucker (ed.). New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, Karl (1976) Capital: A Critique of Political Economy; Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, Karl (1964) Class Struggles in France, 1848–1850; New York: International Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • McBride, L. William (2000) “Habermas and the Marxian Tradition” In Perspectives on Habermas; Hahn Edwin Lewis (ed.), Chicago: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCharthy, Thomas (1978) The Critical Theory of Jürgen Habermas; Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, A. Raymond, Torres, Alberto Carlos (2002) Reading Freire and Habermas: Critical Pedagogy and Transformative Social Change; New York: Teachers Coolidge Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Kane, Chris (2021) “Law and the state in Frankfurt School critical theory” In Research Handbook on Law and Marxism; O’Connel Paul, Özsu Umut (eds.); Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Outhwaite, William (2009) Habermas; Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pusey, Michael (2003) Jürgen Habermas; London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, M. David (1989) Reading Habermas; Cambridge: Basil Blackwell, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rockmore, Tom (1989) Habermas on Historical Materialism; Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodericsk, Rick (1986) Habermas and the Foundations of Critical Theory. London and New York: Macmillan and St. Martin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sensat, Julius Jr. (1979) Habermas and Marxism: An Appraisal. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sitton, F. John (2003) Habermas and Contemporary Society; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Susen, Simon (2009) “The Philosophical Significance of Binary Categories in Habermas’s Discourse Ethics”, Sociological Analysis, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 97–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, Paul (1979) “The Language of Real Life: Jürgen Habermas and the Distortion of Karl Marx”, Discourse Vol. 1, pp. 59–81.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Strumica, North Macedonia

    Kire Sharlamanov

Authors
  1. Kire Sharlamanov
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sharlamanov, K. (2024). The Attitude to Marxism. In: Habermas between Critical Theory and Liberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53938-1_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53938-1_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-53937-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-53938-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics