Jürgen Habermas’ın kamusal alan kavrayışı: Rasyonel politik irade oluşumu
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Date
2020-03-25
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Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi
Abstract
Kamusallığın Yapısal Dönüşümü, felsefe, sosyoloji, tarih, iletişim gibi farklı disiplinlerin verilerini sentezleyerek demokrasilerin örgütlenme ya da meşruiyet ilkesi olarak kamusal alanın jeneolojisini yapan olağanüstü kapsamlı, paradigmatik bir eserdir. Bu eserin önemi, her şeyden önce, Eleştirel Teori’nin normatif bir temelde yeniden yapılandırılmasına imkan veren “tahakkümden bağımsız iletişim” düşüncesinin ele alındığı ilk yer olmasıdır. Habermas’ın felsefesinde kamusal alan, bireylerin özel alanlarından çıkarak eşit yurttaşlar olarak tartışmaya katılabildikleri, toplumsal, kültürel ve politik her türlü mesele üzerine söz söyleyebildikleri, özgür tartışmanın alanı olarak tanımlanır. Ona göre, burjuva toplumuna özgü tarihsel bir kategori olarak ortaya çıkan ve gelişen bu alan, rasyonel tartışma yoluyla yurttaşlar arasında mevcut problemlerin çözümü için rasyonel bir uzlaşmanın tesis edilebilmesini mümkün kılması anlamında demokrasilerin kurucu/normatif unsurlarından birini oluşturur. Bu anlamda, kamusal alan, yurttaşların kendi kaderlerini özgür tartışma yoluyla belirleyebildikleri, rasyonel politik irade oluşumu alanı olarak kavranır. Eserin son bölümünde, 19. Yüzyıldan itibaren bu yapıların çözülme eğiliminde olduğunu, kamusal alanın bireylerin tahakküm altına alınmasına götüren yapısal bir dönüşüme uğradığını ileri sürse de, Habermas’ın felsefesinin evriminde (farklı teorik çerçeveler içerisinde de olsa) rasyonel politik irade oluşumunun mekanı olarak kamusal alanın ideal bir şekilde nasıl tesis edileceği daima merkezi bir tema olarak kalır. Bu makalede, ilk olarak Kamusallığın Yapısal Dönüşümü’nde hem tarihsel hem de normatif bir kategori olarak kamusal alanın ele alınış biçimi tartışılmaktadır. İkinci olarak Habermas’ın, kamusal alanın yapısal dönüşümüne ilişkin yorumunun açmış olduğu temel tartışmalar ele alınmaktadır.
Jurgen Habermas’ The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere is a remarkably comprehensive and paradigmatic work, which explains the genealogy of the public sphere as organization and legitimation principle of the democracies by synthesizing data from different disciplines like philosophy, sociology, history, and communication. The primary significance of this work is that the idea of "communication free from domination" was dealt with for the first time and facilitated the reconstruction of Critical Theory on a normative basis. In Habermas' philosophy, the public sphere is defined as the realm of free discussion, where individuals can join the discussion as equal citizens and speak about all social, cultural, and political matters. This sphere, which emerged and developed as a historical category peculiar to the bourgeois society, is one of the constitutive/normative elements of democracies, and enables the constitution of a rational consensus among citizens for problem-solving thanks to rational discussions. In this sense, the public sphere is conceived as the realm of rational political will formation, in which citizens could determine their destiny through free discussion. Although it is claimed in the last part of the book that these structures have dissolved since the 19th century, and that the public sphere have been undergoing a structural transformation leading to the domination of individuals, how to ideally establish the public sphere as the medium of rational political will formation always remains a central theme in the evolution of Habermas’ philosophy (albeit within different theoretical frameworks). In this article, the ways in which public sphere as a historical and normative category is dealt within the Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere are discussed. Secondly, the main debates that followed Habermas’ work and his comments on the structural transformation are tackled with.
Jurgen Habermas’ The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere is a remarkably comprehensive and paradigmatic work, which explains the genealogy of the public sphere as organization and legitimation principle of the democracies by synthesizing data from different disciplines like philosophy, sociology, history, and communication. The primary significance of this work is that the idea of "communication free from domination" was dealt with for the first time and facilitated the reconstruction of Critical Theory on a normative basis. In Habermas' philosophy, the public sphere is defined as the realm of free discussion, where individuals can join the discussion as equal citizens and speak about all social, cultural, and political matters. This sphere, which emerged and developed as a historical category peculiar to the bourgeois society, is one of the constitutive/normative elements of democracies, and enables the constitution of a rational consensus among citizens for problem-solving thanks to rational discussions. In this sense, the public sphere is conceived as the realm of rational political will formation, in which citizens could determine their destiny through free discussion. Although it is claimed in the last part of the book that these structures have dissolved since the 19th century, and that the public sphere have been undergoing a structural transformation leading to the domination of individuals, how to ideally establish the public sphere as the medium of rational political will formation always remains a central theme in the evolution of Habermas’ philosophy (albeit within different theoretical frameworks). In this article, the ways in which public sphere as a historical and normative category is dealt within the Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere are discussed. Secondly, the main debates that followed Habermas’ work and his comments on the structural transformation are tackled with.
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Keywords
Jürgen Habermas, Kamusal alan, Özel alan, Uzlaşım, Anlaşmaya varma, İletişimsel eylem, İletişimsel rasyonellik, Public sphere, Private sphere, Agreement, Reaching an understanding, Communicative action, Communicative rationality
Citation
Torun, T. (2020). "Jürgen Habermas’ın kamusal alan kavrayışı: Rasyonel politik irade oluşumu". Kaygı. Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi, 19(1), 220-238.