Jürgen Habermas – seine vision von Europa
Jürgen Habermas – His Vision of Europe

Summary/Abstract: In his recent short essay “Concerning the European Constitution“ Jürgen Habermas, who is considered by his followers to be the most popular philosopher the world over, has examined thecurrent crisis in Europe and outlined how in his view it can be overcome. Instead of the old argument for Europe’s integration, that it would preclude wars between the European nations, Habermas prefers a new defence. According to him, the European Union can be understood as “a crucial step forward towards a politically organized world community” (p. 39). But whether that “narrative”, as he calls it, will really help to mobilize the European feelings of national citizens can quite rightly be questioned. What can be considered, according to the author of this text, to be Habermas’ achievement in dealing with the European Union, is his conclusion that it represents the first example of a “division of sovereignty” being practiced (p. 49 and 69); that, secondly, it enables a legal framework to be established for the foreign and defence policy of the EU member states (p. 57); and, thirdly, that the chance now exists to found, in the time to come, a “world community” (p. 82), which would be more effective than the Geneva “League of Nations” and the New York “United Nations Organization”. By the way, in Habermas’ concept the nation states rather surprisingly play an important and decisive role (p. 72).

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