The Idolatry of the Actual: Habermas, Socialization, and the Possibility of Autonomy

331 Pages·2011·4.29 MB·English

by  David A. Borman

The Idolatry of the Actual
SUNY series in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences
——————
Lenore Langsdorf, editor
The Idolatry of the Actual
Habermas, Socialization,
and the Possibility of Autonomy
David A. Borman
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2011 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Borman, David A.
The idolatry of the actual : Habermas, socialization, and the possibility of
autonomy / David A. Borman.
p. cm. — (Suny series in the philosophy of the social sciences)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-3737-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Social sciences—Philosophy. 2. Socialization. 3. Social structure. 4. Habermas,
Jürgen. I. Title. II. Title: Habermas, socialization, and the possibility of
autonomy.
H61.15.B667 2011
300.1—dc22 2011003123
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To James L. Marsh,
for cultivating in me both the philosophical desire to make sense of the world,
and the practical desire that it should make sense.

Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
INTRODUCTION 1
The Structure of Critical-Theoretical Argument 2
The Argument 7
The Critique of Late Habermas 10
CHAPTER 1: CAPITALISM AND CONTRADICTION IN
LEGITIMATION CRISIS 17
On the Concept of Crisis 18
System and Lifeworld 20
Liberal Capitalism and Contradiction 23
“A Descriptive Model of Advanced Capitalism” 26
Crisis Tendencies in Advanced Capitalism 31
The Critical Reception of Legitimation Crisis 46
CHAPTER 2: RATIONALIZATION AND SOCIAL
PATHOLOGY IN THE THEORY OF
COMMUNICATIVE ACTION 55
The Theory of Communicative Action in a Nutshell 56
Linguistification as Rationalization: An Evolutionary Account
of the Lifeworld 60
Mediatization as Rationalization: An Evolutionary Account of
System 65
System and Lifeworld Interchange Roles and the Thesis of
Colonization 74
Summary 89
Protest Potential in The Theory of Communicative Action 91
Culture and Economy: On the Instrumentalization of Status
Distinctions 97
The “Inevitability” of System 101
viii Contents
POSTSCRIPT: BETWEEN FACTS AND NORMS, IN
WHICH LAW SAVES US FROM OURSELVES 103
INTERMEDIATE REFLECTIONS: HABERMAS AND THE
SOCIOLOGY OF THE SCHOOL 107
Habermas on the Function of the School 108
Dominant Perspectives in the Sociology of the School 114
Schooling in Capitalist America: The Correspondence Principle 122
Correspondence and Legitimation 128
Jean Anyon and the Differentiation of the “Hidden Curriculum” 142
Paul Willis and “the Lads” 146
The Educational Exchange and the Counter-School Insight 149
“The Lads” Culture and the Role of Race and Gender 151
Fatalism, Positivism, and Working Class Culture 155
Conclusion 157
CHAPTER 3: MORAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND
POSTCONVENTIONALITY 167
Interactive Competence and the System of Speaker and
World Perspectives 172
Postconventionality and Discourse 178
Vindicating the Developmental-Logical Argument 183
Problems in Kohlberg 187
CHAPTER 4: SOCIALIZATION AND EGO AUTONOMY 189
The True Individual 195
The Causes of Postconventionality 199
Arrested Development and the Systems-Theoretical Individual 212
Arrested Development and Moral Consciousness 214
CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS: MULTICULTURAL
IDENTITY AS POSTCONVENTIONALITY 223
New York Multiculturalism and the “Contact” Hypothesis 225
Multiculturalism as a Fact and Multicultural Integration
as an Aim of Policy 227
Multiculturalism as Political Integration 230
Constitutional Patriotism as Multicultural Identity 235
The Actualization of Democratic Rights as a Source of
Postconventional Recognition 242
Multicultural Education and Capitalist Colonization:
A Social Contradiction 249
The Practical Significance of the Contradiction 252
Conclusion: The Status of the Argument 256
Contents ix
NOTES 263
BIBLIOGRAPHY 303
INDEX 311