Communications
| Date | 01 December 1997 |
| Published date | 01 December 1997 |
| Author | Phil Ryan |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-9248.00115 |
| Subject Matter | Communications |
Communications
David Schlosberg, `Communicative Action in Practice', Political Studies
(1995) XLIII, 291±311
David Schlosberg uses the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and Direct
Action (DA) movements to shed light on some controversial aspects of
Habermas's theory of communicative action. Some of Schlosberg's observa-
tions miss the mark, though his approach suggests interesting questions for
further study.
Habermas views reaching understanding as the `inherent telos' of human
speech and claims that the rules of communicative action are `inherent' in
everyday speech. His critics, as Schlosberg notes, see these rules as `abstract and
alien standards' (p. 296). In his study of the ADR and DA movements,
Schlosberg ®nds that (a) neither sees the rules of communication as `inherent'
(pp. 301, 305); (b) neither has recourse to a Habermasian normative justi®cation
of communicative practices (pp. 301, 305); (c) ADR volunteers must `con-
sciously and arti®cially' construct rules of communication for disputants
(p. 301); (d) many disputants shrink from participation in ADR `after the
ground-rules have been explained' (p. 301).
These ®ndings neither challenge nor support Habermas's position. Let us
address the ®ndings by analogy: when Augustine states that `you made us for
yourself and our hearts ®nd no peace until they rest in you',1 he is claiming that
God is the inherent telos of the human being. This claim is entirely compatible
with believers who pursue God: (a) without any conscious sense that this is their
telos; (b) without feeling a need to oer any `normative justi®cation' of the
quest; (c) while `consciously and arti®cially' working to strip away impediments
to this quest, e.g. through ascetical practices. Augustine's claim is also com-
patible with: (d) people shrinking from their telos.
Two questions might address the controversy more directly: when the rules of
communicative action are explained to people...
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