Jürgen Habermas
German philosopher and social theorist known for communicative rationality and the public sphere.
Born on 18 June 1929 in Düsseldorf, Jürgen Habermas was a philosopher and social theorist.[1] At age 96, Habermas passed away on 14 March 2026 in Starnberg.[2]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 18 June 1929
- Birthplace
- Düsseldorf, Weimar Republic
- Died
- 14 March 2026
- Place of death
- Starnberg, Germany
- Children
- 3, including Rebekka
- Education
- University of Göttingen
- University of Zurich
- University of Bonn (PhD)
- University of Marburg (Hab.)
- Era
- Contemporary philosophy
- Region
- Western philosophy
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
As a teenager, Habermas joined the Deutsches Jungvolk at his father's instigation and rose to the rank of Jungvolkführer.[3] He earned a doctorate in philosophy from Bonn in February 1954 with a dissertation on Schelling's thought.[4] His 1961 habilitation work was entitled Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit.[5] Habermas returned to Frankfurt in 1964 to take over Horkheimer's chair in philosophy and sociology.[6]
He received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 1986.[7] Habermas married Ute Wesselhoeft in 1955 and they had three children.[8][2] In 1933 his father became a member of the Nazi Party, and from 1939 he served as an advisor to it.[9]
What the cited sources add
Gottfried's obituary states that Habermas's working life spanned more than seventy years and he was closely associated with the Frankfurt School from 1956.[10] Gottfried also reports that Habermas's 1954 dissertation on Schelling pointed in other directions and gave no signs of his later social radicalism.[10] According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Gadamer backed Habermas and pushed for him to receive a Heidelberg job offer even before his habilitation was finished.[11] The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts indicates Habermas was chosen as a foreign member on 15 December 1988.[12][7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Jürgen Habermas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The philosopher who rejected a €225,000 prize from the UAE – DW – 05/03/2021", dw.com; Simplican, "Disabling Democracy: How Disability Reconfigures Deliberative Democratic Norms", 28 October 2017; Habermas, "Between Naturalism and Religion: Philosophical Essays", 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jürgen Habermas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Greenberg, "Jürgen Habermas", Gale Group, 2001, p. 190; Beckerman, "Jürgen Habermas Dies at 96; One of Postwar Germany's Most Influential Thinkers", The New York Times, 2026-03-14; Moulson, "Jürgen Habermas, influential German philosopher, dies at 96", AP News, 14 March 2026; "Biografie Jürgen Habermas". agso.uni-graz.at (in German). Retrieved 14 March 2026.; Reynebeau, "Jürgen Habermas, van 'Hitlerknaap' tot voorvechter van de democratie", De Standaard, 15 March 2026 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jürgen Habermas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ahmad, "Habermas as an Ethnic Thinker par excellence: On Critique, Palestine and the Role of Intellectuals", Teaching in Higher Education, 2025, p. 1346; Neumann, "Habermas, philosophe allemand de la restauration française?", Variations, 2019, p. 2; Busche, "Hat Habermas die Wahrheit verschluckt?", Netzeitung, 26 October 2006; Outhwaite, "Review of Habermas: A Biography by Stefan Müller-Doohm, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2016", Studies in Social and Political Thought, 2016, p. 131; Specter, "Habermas: An Intellectual Biography", Cambridge en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jürgen Habermas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Habermas, "Das Absolute und die Geschichte", University Library Heidelberg, 1954; Gottfried, "Habermas’s Age", The American Conservative, 2026-05-01; Habermas, "Das Absolute und die Geschichte", University Library Heidelberg, 1954; Busche, "Hat Habermas die Wahrheit verschluckt?", Netzeitung, 26 October 2006; Edgar, "The Philosophy of Habermas", Acumen, 2005, p. 3 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jürgen Habermas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Specter 2010, p. 33, 226; Specter 2010, p. 33, 226 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jürgen Habermas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Outhwaite 2016, p. 127; Susen, "The Cambridge Handbook of Social Theory", Cambridge University Press, 2020, p. 370 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jürgen Habermas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Susen 2020, p. 370–371; "Habermas Jirgen", www.sanu.ac.rs (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jürgen Habermas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: von Thadden, "Ute Habermas-Wesselhoeft: Die Ermöglicherin", Die Zeit, 17 June 2025 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Jürgen Habermas" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ahmad, "Habermas as an Ethnic Thinker par excellence: On Critique, Palestine and the Role of Intellectuals", Teaching in Higher Education, 2025, p. 1346 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Gottfried, "Habermas’s Age", The American Conservative, 2026-05-01. facts only, no text reused. theamericanconservative.com
- Barthold, "Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900—2002)", Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. facts only, no text reused. iep.utm.edu
- "Habermas Jirgen", www.sanu.ac.rs. facts only, no text reused. sanu.ac.rs
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jürgen Habermas (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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