Minnesord Jürgen Habermas
The German sociologist and philosopher Jürgen Habermas died 14. March 2026. Mikael Carleheden have written an obituary which mixes reflections about his work and personal memories.
This obituary analyses his life’s work, his intellectual significance and his role as a public intellectual in post-war Europe. In particular, it highlights the development of the theory of communicative rationality, the analysis of the public sphere’s significance for democracy, and the distinction between systemic and communicative integration in modern societies. At the same time, it highlights Habermas’s consistent engagement with political and moral issues. Through recollections from the research community in Frankfurt, a picture is painted of Habermas as both a demanding theorist and a central figure in the international network of the critical tradition. The obituary argues that Habermas has not only shaped the social sciences, but has also made a decisive contribution to the understanding of democracy, the public sphere and normative criticism in modern society.
It is published online on the home page of the Swedish Journal Sociologisk Forskning. It will be included in the next issue of the journal; Vol 63:2 (2026).
Read the orbituary (in Swedish).