Karl-Otto Apel

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

1 Work
2 References
3 External links
4 See also

[edit] 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^[1], 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.