HABERMAS, Jurgen, (1929-). German sociologist and originator of the theory of Communication ethics, Habermas took up a chair in philosophy and sociology at the University of Frankfurt in 1964 where he was assistant to Theodor Adorno. In 1971 he moved to the Max Planck Institute, Starnberg. He worked with Claus Offe, Niklas Luhmann and Klaus Eder, influencing a generation of German social scientists. Wrote amongst other works Theorie und Praxis (1963), Towards a Rational Society (1970), Knowledge and Human Interests (1968), Legitimation Crisis (1973) and two volumes of The Theory of Communicative Action.
Existentialists