I’m 2 months behind, but I finally got to Howard Rheingold’s post on his brief encounter with Habermas, because I’m trying to understand Habermas without having to actually read his Big Books. When Habermas chose not to answer Howard’s question about how the rise of the Internet affects the public sphere, Howard was disappointed the way only a mentor can disappoint us.

I think some of the commenters on Howard’s post are reasonable when they try to let Habermas off the hook for not responding then and there. OTOH, I wasn’t there and thus don’t know just how dismissive Habermas was. In any case, Howard is right that if you’re interested in democracy and the public sphere — as Habermas obviously is — you need to pay attention to the rise of the Net. (Howard and the commenters list sources I am now about to read.)

But mainly I was so happy to see philosophy engaged via Howard’s demand that it address the important issues of the day and the commenters’ pokings, pullings and elaborations. [Tags: howard_rheingold habermas philosophy ]

Categories: Uncategorized dw