The claim to universality of modernity and its relation with Occidental rationality: A study of Juergen Habermas's philosophy of modernity

Jurgen Habermas's reconstruction of Critical Theory has been subjected to extensive scrutiny in recent years. However, three of this philosophy's fundamental presuppositions have remained unexamined: the concept of "Occidental rationalism"; the notion of an unfinished project of modernity; and the claim to universality of modernity. This dissertation examines the philosophy of Habermas with reference to these three principles. Habermas's extended project---to recover a normative foundation for the tradition of Critical Theory---can be, figuratively at least, divided into two stages. I consider the first stage of Habermas's task to have concluded with the publication of Knowledge and Human Interests in 1968. The second stage of Habermas's reconstructive plan began with the publication of the Theory of Communicative Action in 1981. I argue that Habermas's reconstructive project fails to overcome the arguments of Horkheimer and Adorno's thesis on the antagonistic nature of enlightenment, and therefore his reconstruction of Critical Theory remains problematic.;On the substantive level, I aim to examine the question, "Does the term 'Modernity' refer to a specific culture, or can it be employed more broadly?" I will challenge Habermas's unfinished project of modernity by introducing the concept of a "plurality of modernities." Referring to Habermas's implicitly Eurocentric claim of the universality of modernity, based in an "Occidental understanding of the world," I will argue that universalization cannot be achieved on the basis of a specific world-interpretation. Arguing against the feasibility of completing "the project of modernity" once and for all, I suggest that there are not only numerous paths to modernity, but that diverse historical conditions and sociocultural environments give rise to varied forms of modernity in different parts of the world. I argue that an emancipatory theory, which is what Habermas's is believed to be, ought to address itself to an understanding of the transformation of culture rather than simply the logic of communication, and, consequently, it should address cultural as well as cross-cultural conflicts in various societies, including non-western ones.