The Routledge Handbook of Accounting Ethics

5HABERMAS AND DISCOURSE ETHICS

Larita J. Killian

Introduction: Habermas in perspective

Since his first major publication in 1962,¹ Jurgen Habermas’s work has influenced our understanding of philosophy, sociology, religion, democracy, accountability, global capitalism, and the fate of the European Union. His early work was a continuation of the Frankfurt School of critical theory (Finlayson 2005). Numerous scholars have critiqued and extended his work. The theory of ethical discourse that occupies a central place in Habermas’s oeuvre highlights the primacy of speech in establishing accountability and binding communities.

Habermas speaks to the modern “post metaphysical” world (1993, 94). Premodern societies are based on kinship and shared ...