Dialectical Synthesis’: An inquiry into the Habermasian Paradigm of Legitimate Knowledge

Dr.R.Murali
Head
Department of Philosophy and Center for Philosophical Research
The Madura College(Autonomous), Madurai-625011

Habermas challenged positivistically minded philosophers of science who explicitly or implicitly presupposed that the empirical analytical sciences provide the model for all legitimate knowledge and dismissed all other claim to knowledge as pseudo knowledge. Habermas distinguished three non reducible quasi transcendental cognitive interests. They are the technical, the practical, and the emancipatory. Each of these cognitive interests is itself rooted in historical rationalization. The empirical analytic sciences incorporates a technical cognitive interest that of historical hermeneutic sciences incorporates a practical one, the approach of critically oriented sciences incorporates the emancipatory cognitive interest. The critical social sciences dispel the positivist illusion of disinterestedness and unmask the ideological interests at work. A critical social science is a dialectical synthesis of empirical analytic ad historical hermeneutical disciplines. It goes beyond one sided approaches. The repeatability in natural science is questioned by Habermas. So he wanted a knowledge which is technically useful and morally binding, not only morally binding but also morally liberating. Habermas insists that a critical social science guided by an emancipatory interest is necessary for guaranteeing the objectivity.