On Habermas'Reconstruction Of Historical Materialism

As the most important representative of the second generation of Frankford School, Habermas reconstructs the historical materialism, which culminates his critique theory. With all domestic investigations that actually remain simple comparisons with Marx's thought, a necessary clarification is lacking for his "reconstruction"and "historical materialism", hence a partial and surface analysis for Habermas'ideology. In fact, Habermas'theory is interested in discovering the truth by pursuing his argument where it may lead, which determines his unhistorical-philosophical attitude towards historical materialism on one hand, and that the attitude cannot rest only upon reconstruction of the historical materialism on the other hand, instead, it will inevitably tend towards replacement. Furthermore, Habermas'reconstruction of the historical materialism is in the sense of Marxism instead of Marx. Based on the clarification of the two points, this paper re-discusses the background, reasons, and project for Habermas to reconstruct the historical materialism as well as its inspiration. In particular, the in-depth analysis of Habermas'theory defines the problems that Habermas is concerned about. Focused on these problems, this paper reviews his reconstruction, with a reflection on the extent to which this project will solve the concerned problems. With the analysis of this perspective, it is expected to facilitate our understanding for Habermas'ideology and provide new perspectives for further theoretical investigation.