Berlin, (EFE).- The death of the philosopher Jürgen Habermas on Saturday at the age of 96 deprived Germany of one of its most important intellectual figures. The renowned philosopher shaped contemporary debates both within his country and around the world.
“I can confirm that Jürgen Habermas died today. The family has informed us. He died at his home,” sources from Suhrkamp, the German publisher of his books, told EFE.
Habermas passed away at his home in Starnberg, southern Germany. However, it was Frankfurt, in the west of the country, that defined his biography as a thinker and philosopher.
There, he was part of the so-called second generation of the Frankfurt School, a group of intellectuals who continued the legacy of the founders of the Institut für Sozialforschung (Institute for Social Research). He joined the institution in 1956 as an assistant to Theodor W. Adorno, another of the great German thinkers of the last century.
Building on his training with these intellectuals, who sought to apply Marxism to interdisciplinary theories of society, Habermas achieved the stature that the public broadcaster ARD accorded him on the day of his death: “One of Germany’s most influential and significant voices.”
Habermas, who received the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences (Renamed later Princess of Asturias) in 2003 for his career, was also a Professor of Philosophy at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt, although he could equally have taught Economics, History, or Psychology, disciplines in which he was also trained.
The author of influential volumes such as The Theory of Communicative Action, published in 1982, Habermas leaves behind an extensive body of work that was as impactful as his voice in the public sphere, where he consistently intervened, especially during pivotal moments in contemporary history.
A loss for Germany and Europe
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz lamented that Germany and Europe lost “one of the most significant thinkers of our time.”
“Jürgen Habermas, with foresight and historical stature, guided political and social developments,” Merz stated in a press release.
“His analytical rigor shaped democratic discourse far beyond the borders of our country, acting like a beacon in a raging sea,” the head of the German government added.
Engaged in the public debates of his era through media interventions, Habermas left his mark on Germany’s major news outlets.
He was “the man of an era,” as the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung recalled on Saturday.
‘A great Enlightenment thinker’
The other major newspaper in the economic metropolis of western Germany, the Frankfurter Rundschau, highlighted that Habermas and his Theory of Communicative Action “influenced generations of thinkers worldwide.”
He was a “global intellectual, known as much in Brazil as in Japan,” the newspaper noted.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung, on whose pages Habermas expressed his skepticism about Germany’s attitude toward Russia after the start of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, mourned the death of a philosopher whom the newspaper defined as “a great Enlightenment thinker.” EFE
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