Habermas: The Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy (Jurists: Profiles in Legal Theory) - Tapa dura

"Baxter's own predilection is to reconfigure Habermas's project as a more porous version of Niklas Luhmann's autopoietic systems theory. With attention to Talcott Parsons, Frank Michelman, Ronald Dworkin, John Rawls, and particularly Luhmann, Baxter contributes an immanent and comparative critique of Habermas." -- G. D. Miller "The great merit of Hugh Baxter's book is not just that it assesses Habermas's legal philosophy against the background of his more general social theory but that it provides a sophisticated assessment of both aspects of Habermas's program. This is not just a good book on Habermas's theory of law but also contains the best discussion of Habermas's theory of system and lifeworld that I have encountered." -- Joseph Heath * University of Toronto Law Journal * "A clear, well-judged, and cool assessment of Jurgen Habermas and his debates with Niklas Luhmann, two giants of twentieth-century social theory." -- Tim Murphy * The London School of Economics and Political Science * "Baxter's study offers the first extended discussion of the development of Habermas's views on law and society-a development not without its own tensions and difficulties-from The Theory of Communicative Action to Between Facts and Norms. It also highlights the underacknowledged influence of Niklas Luhmann, the other great contemporary German legal and social theorist, on Habermas's views as a whole. An informed and important contribution to our understanding of Habermas's political, legal, and social theory." -- Kenneth Baynes * Syracuse University * "A must read for all those interested in an exposition of Jurgen Habermas's fundamental contribution to legal scholarship." -- David M. Rasmussen

This book offers a critical analysis of the complex theory of law and democracy developed by celebrated German philosopher and public intellectual Jürgen Habermas.