A critical reconstruction of Jürgen Habermas’s theory of communicative rationality requires closer examination of the symbolic and infrastructural conditions under which validity claims may be articulated, recognised, and sustained. Habermas’s work is central to the post–metaphysical reformulation of normativity, moving beyond both metaphysical certainty and a reductive genealogy of power. Yet the procedural presuppositions of rational discourse – inclusion, symmetry, reciprocity, and freedom from non–argumentative coercion – are not merely pragmatic conditions of communication, but fragile social and institutional achievements. In late–modern public spheres marked by fragmentation, economic asymmetry, and digital mediation, the issue is not only whether claims can be rationally justified, but whether they can appear as intelligible objects of justification at all. The distinction between validity and visibility clarifies this transformation. Habermas’s project is therefore philosophically and politically significant, though it must be reconsidered in relation to the symbolic infrastructures that condition intelligibility, recognition, and attention.
Validity and Visibility: Rethinking Habermas
SCIACCA, FABRIZIO
2026-01-01
Abstract
A critical reconstruction of Jürgen Habermas’s theory of communicative rationality requires closer examination of the symbolic and infrastructural conditions under which validity claims may be articulated, recognised, and sustained. Habermas’s work is central to the post–metaphysical reformulation of normativity, moving beyond both metaphysical certainty and a reductive genealogy of power. Yet the procedural presuppositions of rational discourse – inclusion, symmetry, reciprocity, and freedom from non–argumentative coercion – are not merely pragmatic conditions of communication, but fragile social and institutional achievements. In late–modern public spheres marked by fragmentation, economic asymmetry, and digital mediation, the issue is not only whether claims can be rationally justified, but whether they can appear as intelligible objects of justification at all. The distinction between validity and visibility clarifies this transformation. Habermas’s project is therefore philosophically and politically significant, though it must be reconsidered in relation to the symbolic infrastructures that condition intelligibility, recognition, and attention.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
