Dialectics Of Social Rationalization

In Habermas’ s dialectics of social rationalization,the critique of functionalist reason may be a thread hidden in the development of his theory,and thus,it has received little special attentions from scholars.In fact,the starting point of Habermas’ "reconstruction of rationalized life-world" is based on "the critique of functionalist reason ".Thus,in a certain sense,the critique of functionalist reason constitutes the cornerstone of Habermas’ s theory of social criticality.For Habermas,the theory of communicative action is the theoretical perspective of dialectics,which he used to question social rationalization.The dialectics of social rationalization is an important part of his theory of communicative action theory.Meanwhile,the critique of functionalist reason is an crucial entry point to explore the dialectics of social rationalization.The relationship between“system and life-world”is central to the dialectics of social rationalization.In terms of ideological origin,Mead’s communication theory and Durkheim’s social norm theory were geared to the "historical studies" of the communication action theory,which contained the germination of the critical concepts of communication action theory.Habermas’ s concept of communication is directly derived from Meade’s concept of "interactive subject action",and Mead’s concept of "the attitude of the other" also provides important enlightenment for Habermas to ultimately establish the concept of intersubjectivity of interactive action.Habermas borrowed the concept of "collective consciousness" from Durkheim and raised it to a sociological aspect to form social consensus and social norms.However,regarding Mead and Durkheim,Habermas also criticizes some of the shortcomings in their theories.He thinks that Mead’s " the attitude of the other" lacks proper sociological concepts,so it only stays in ontogeny,which makes his theory still tend to the philosophy of consciousness.Durkheim,confined to the traditional philosophy of religious consciousness,discussed the authority of "collective consciousness" from the "sacred" root,which distorted the action root and social foundation of social norms.The immediate cuse that led Habermas’ s mind to explore the dialectic of social rationalization in depth and systematically is the flood of instrumental reason in capitalist societies since the 20 th century.This is reflected centrally in the concept of functionalist reason as embodied by Parsons.Parsons proposed the concept of "system" of functionalist reason,highlighting that the function realization of system means social rationalization,and system function is guaranteed by action structure.Habermas endorsed this viewpoints and highly commended Parsons’ s work on action.However,he may also argue that Parsons’ s system is divorced from the social context——the life-world,and is therefore an isolated existence.In this way,Parsons distanced the action from society.But Habermas attempted to overcome this theoretical flaw by constructing a social concept of action and the unity of systems.On one hand,he introduced the concept of "life-world" and transformed it from a traditional epistemological concept to a sociological concept.For another,starting from elucidating the relationship between the system and the life-world,he proposed and demonstrated the theory of social dynamics,the dual explanation model of "system-lifeworld",and interpreted the problem of social rationalization as a two-way process including "system rationalization" and "life-world rationalization",so as to achieve the social constitution of "communicative reason" and release its rational potential.Habermas tried to get rid of the colonization predicament of the "life-world" via the "rationalization of communicative action",and finally realized the integration of society,which laid a new basis for the dialectics of social rationalization.Marx’s real historical principles,that forms the theoretical cornerstone of Habermas’ s dialectics of social rationalization.But at the same time,he argued that Marx’s conception of labor kept theoretical dilemmas at bay,and that the old philosophical elements of hidden historical materialism were thus exposed.In Habermas’ s view,the essence of the dialectics of social rationalization relies on the self-denial of society,through which the society enters the rationalization situation,that is,from the separation of the system and the life-world to the colonization of action the life-world and afterwards to the dual structure of the system and the life-world(the rationalized life-world).Functionalism,both in its theory of action and in its theory of system,ignores the existence of the life-world and even advocates the overstepping of instrumental reason——the colonisation of the life-world.Habermas attempted to unify the social concept of system theory and action theory,and reestablish the rationalized life-world.Beyond all doubts,against the critique of instrumental reason of the first generation of Frankfurt School critics,Habermas’ s critique of functionalist reason can better strike the lifeblood of contemporary capitalist society,diagnose the "pathological phenomenon of colonization" and social crisis of late capitalism and prescribe a "prescription",which gives an expression to the momentous contemporary value of Habermas’ s critique of functionalist reason.Basically,however,what went so wrong for Habermas was that he misinterpreted and even violently interpreted Marx’s idea of social rationalization in many ways.By this token,we should return to Marx and radically re-establish the philosophical status and social function of the functionalist critique of reason.