Abstract:G. A. Cohen and Jürgen Habermas stand on the standpoint of scientism and humanism respectively to form two dynamic theories about the development of social history: the technical determinism and the social evolutionism. On the one hand, based on the tradition of AngloAmerican analytic philosophy, Cohen deduces technological progress or productivity as the ultimate driving force for the development of social history from the application of the universal law of social change, forming a technical determinism characterized by the “paradigm of production”. However, Cohen’s technical determinism faces a series of dilemmas. It fulfills neither the theoretical coherence problem nor the practical task of human liberation of Marx’s historical materialism. On the other hand, Habermas emphasizes that the change of the structure of moral practice consciousness is the key to understanding the historical change based on the tradition of European humanistic philosophy. Where Cohen is concerned about the technological progress of human beings, Habermas focuses on the evolution of communicative rationality and the learning process of moralitypractice, thus develops a social evolutionary theory characterized by the “paradigm of practice”. It inherits the classical meaning of Aristotle’s practical wisdom to a certain extent, and is more in line with Marx’s historical materialism than Cohen’s technical determinism.
吴琳. 柯亨与哈贝马斯的历史动力论辨析[J]. 华中师范大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2020, 59(1): 89-95.
Wu Lin. On the Theory of Historical Dynamics of G. A. Cohen and Jürgen Habermas. journal1, 2020, 59(1): 89-95.