Karl-Otto Apel

Karl-Otto Apel (born March 15, 1922 in Düsseldorf) is a German philosopher and Professor Emeritus at the University of Frankfurt am Main.

Work

Apel's work brings together the Analytical and Continental philosophical traditions, especially pragmatism and the critical theory of the Frankfurt School.

In "Understanding and Explanation: A Transcendental-Pragmatic Perspective" [Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1984.] , Apel reformulated the difference between understanding ("Verstehen") and explanation ("Erklärung"), which originated in the hermeneutics of Wilhelm Dilthey and interpretive sociology of Max Weber, on the basis of a Peircean-inspired transcendental-pragmatic account of language. This account of the "lifeworld" would become an element of the theory of communicative action and discourse ethics, which Apel co-developed with his friend, colleague, and collaborator Jürgen Habermas. While sympathetic to Habermas's "Theory of Communicative Action," Apel has been critical of aspects of Habermas's approach. Apel has proposed that a theory of communication should be grounded in the transcendental-pragmatic conditions of communication. After taking his point of departure from Apel, Habermas has moved towards a "weak transcendentalism" that is more closely tied to empirical social inquiry.

Apel has also written works on Peirce and is a past-president of the C.S. Peirce society.

References

External links

* [http://www.karl-otto-apel.de/index.htm Personal website]

ee also

* Frankfurt School
* Charles S. Peirce
* Semiotics
* Pragmatism