Faculdade de Direito

Universidade de Braslia
Brasilia, Junho 2014.
Concept of Lifeorld of Juer!en "a#er$as
%studante& 'an(a )ru(ic
*at+ria& ,tica e direito
-rofessor& *iroslav *ilovic
Abstract: .n this short essa/, . shall reflect upon the concept of the liveorld 0Lebenswelt1 develop
in the ritin! of the Juer!en "a#er$as, $ore specificall/ in the 'olu$e to of his #oo2 The
Theory of the Communicative Action here he develops this notion. 3he essa/ ill start ith the
short introduction here $ain #ac2!round ideas and concept a#out theor/ of co$$unicative action
ill #e presented in order to $aintain #etter understandin! of the conte4t in hich "a#er$as
developed his thin2in! upon lifeolrd. Later, the $ain characteristics of the Lebenswelt ill #e
shon throu!h to $ain points, that ill #e folloed ith the part here the concept of the to5
level social inte!ration 0social and s/ste$atic1 shall #e e4a$ined. 6n the a/ to the conclusion,
uncouplin! of these levels of social realit/ ill #e shon as a part of $odernit/ and process of
$oderni7ation.
Introduction from the Theory of the Communicative Action
.n his #oo2 83heor/ of Co$$unicative 9ction8 "a#er$as ill !ive !round points to his
philosophical clai$s and approach to the $odern orld. .n the second 'olu$e of the #oo2 he ill
rite a#out concept of the :lifeorld:, a#out to level social realit/ here lifeord #eco$es
uncoupled fro$ the s/ste$ orld. Before revilin! the $ain characteristics of the notion lifeorld,
$ain points fro$ "a#er$as: theor/ of the Co$$unicative 9ction shall #e presented. "e has
adopted three5orld concept and accordin! to the$ three validit/ clai$s that !ive rational
fra$eor2 hich is assu$ed #/ the actors in their social interactions.
011 6#(ective orld here so$ethin! is o#tain or can #e #rou!ht and state$ent is true. .t e4presses
hat is the case in the orld, and a directive is successful in #rin!in! a#out a desired state of
affairs.
021 ;ocial orld here so$ethin! is o#li!ator/ and state$ent is ri!ht. <ith respect to e4istin!
nor$s and the e4istin! nor$s are le!iti$ate ith respect to values.
0=1 ;u#(ective orld that is internal to the su#(ect and 8as the totalit/ of su#(ective e4periences
to hich the actor has privile!ed access.8 0"a#er$as, 1>?4, p.1001. .n this orld su#(ected
e4periences, desires and feelin!s are truthfull/ e4pressed.
"a#er$as is not the first author thin2in! a#out the lifeorld, therefore in his ritin!s he ill
revie and critici7e the social theories of Dur2hei$, *ead and "usler, a$on! the others. 3hat is
h/ #efore to $ain ar!u$ents on his lifeorld concept shall #e presented, the social theor/ of
%$ile Dur2hei$ ill #e presented in the points that are connective to the social thin2in! of
"a#er$as. ;hortl/ and ver/ si$pl/ put, #ased on his #oo2 83he division of la#our8 that refers to
the structural differentiation of the social s/ste$s. First point a#out Dur2hei$:s #oo2 "a#er$as ill
notice, is the for$ula :state as the central or!an: here the division of the la#our is not a social5
cultural $anifestation, #ut a :pheno$enon of !eneral #iolo!/ hose conditions $ust #e sou!ht in
the essential properties of or!ani7ed $atter: 0"a#er$as, 1>?@, 1141. <hat he calls :nor$5free
socialit/: can #e liveorld in the "a#er$as: thin2in!. ;econd i$portant point to our ar!u$ent, is
ho Dur2hei$ e4plains transition fro$ archaic societies to the $odern societies. "is stand point
ill #e in solidarit/, prefer ho $echanical solidarit/ 0in se!$entall/ differentiated societies1
transfers to the or!anic solidarit/ 0in the functionall/ differentiated societies1. Collective
consciousness is constitutive for archaic societies, hile in $odern societies the life5conte4t is
constituted #/ the division of la#our 0"a#er$as, 1>?@, 114A11B1. Connected to this :transition: is a
develop$ent of the :social partner: to the develop$ent of the la#our division. Dur2hei$ ill rite
that even the or!anic for$ of social solidarit/ has to #e secured #/ values and nor$sC li2e
$echanical social societies is the e4pression of a collective consciousness, hoever altered in its
structure 0"a#er$as, 1>?@, 11D1. Beside the later parado4, "a#er$as ill a!ree and later use in his
social thin2in!s, that there $ust #e a causal connection #eteen the !roin! differentiation of the
social s/ste$ and the develop$ent of independent $oralit/ effective for the inte!ration.
The lifeworld
9fter short introduction has #een presented, . ill reflect on the "a#er$as: concept of the
lifeorld usin! the to levels of the anal/ses in the or2 of .v2ovic, Habermas Concept of
Systemic Colonization of Lifeworld.
011 understanding that the social integration of modern societies is made by communicative action

6n this level, the lifeorld is related to the three orlds e e4plained at the #e!innin! of the
te4t. 3hat $ean that the su#(ects in the lifeorld orient their actin! to the $utual understandin!
#ased on their co$$on definitions of situations. ;een li2e this, the notion of lifeorld is as a
$acrostucture, as a totalit/ of social realit/ in hich the three orlds 0o#(ective, nor$ative and
su#(ective1 are connected and reinterpreted #/ co$$unication and culture stoc2s. .n the #oo2,
"a#er$as ill sho this virtue of the lifeorld on the e4a$ple of the co$$unicative action
#eteen to or2ers on the constructin! site, here the older one ill !ive an order to the /oun!er
or2er. .n that co$$unicative relation, "a#er$as ill sa/, e can see the spatio5te$poral
di$ension, also as e can notice a nor$ative fra$eor2 in a !iven situation, hich $eans that in
this e4a$ple, li2e in ever/ other, the co$$unicative action in the lifeorld is ala/s connected to
the three orlds and the co$$on definitions that actors are #rin!in! fro$ those orlds.
021 second level is phenomenological and lifeworld here is seen as a framewor for the mutual
understanding
Used as a pheno$enon, lifeorld can e4plain those spatio5te$poral and social
or!ani7ations. 6n the sa$e e4a$ple of the older and /oun!er or2er, "a#er$as #/ $a2in! so$e
chan!es in the stor/, addin! so$e ne infor$ation, shos ho lifeorld is a $ovea#le structure
here the chan!e $a2es a shift in it. "ere he ill use the ord :hori7on: fro$ "usserl. <hen these
chan!es occur, the one actor ill have to redefine the situation #/ usin! a ne definitions or
ar!u$ents the other actor #rou!ht in the relation. 3his redefinition of the co$$unication situation,
is #ased on suppositions of co$$onalit/ in respect to the o#(ective, social and each other:s on
su#(ective orld. ;till, $ost i$portant here is a 2noled!e that is co$in! fro$ the cultural stoc2s.
3hese stoc2s are $a2in! the relation #eteen the actors alread/ pre5interpreted and that is h/
hen the shift happens e can redefine the situation due to this pre5interpretation. "a#er$as ill
sa/ that e can never find ourselves in a void, even if e !o out of the hori7on #ecause culture
stoc2 is 8ala/s alread/8 fa$iliar. 6n the a/ to conclude, the lifeorld is constitutive $utual
understandin!, here spea2er and hearer co$e to an understandin! fro$ out of their co$$on
lifeorld a#out so$ethin! in the o#(ective, social and su#(ective orlds 0"a#er$as, 1>?@, 12D1.
Two-level social reality and its uncoupling
<ith distin!uishin! to levels of societ/ 0s/ste$ and lifeorld1, "a#er$as thin!s that there
are to $odels of the inte!ration 5 s/ste$ and social. 3he s/ste$ inte!ration for an actor is out of
its spectru$, #ecause it is #ased upon functional coordination of the actor:s activit/ outco$es. For
social actors, the social d/na$ics is a product of the social consensual reproduction #/
co$$unicative action. 9ctor is not a part of a s/$#olic reproduction of societies and that is h/ a
hole d/na$ic starts to loo2 as a s/ste$atic sta#ili7ation, #etter put functional5rational actin!,
here the actor loses the aspects of intersu#(ectivit/ and co$$unicative rationalit/ 0.v2ociv, 2010,
?1. 3he !oal of theor/ of the co$$unicative action is to $a2e s/nthesis #eteen these to5level
societ/ inside of the three5orld $odel. "ere e can notice influence of Dur2hei$, #ecause this
to5level develop$ent, should #e correspondin! to each other, one should follo the other, in the
order of #alanced inte!ration in the social and functional realit/. .f e o#serve ever/thin! throu!h
these levels, e can sa/ there are to approaches to the social realit/. 6ne that actors share, the
social approach, and second structural5functionalist approach, that is happenin! throu!h the s/ste$.
;i$ple put, the develop$ent of one, needs to correspond to the develop$ent in the other, the
differentiation of the s/ste$ needs to #e folloed #/ the correspondin! level of the rationali7ation
in the lifeorld.
<hen tal2in! a#out the ideal lifeorld, "a#er$as ill find it in the archaic societies, here
societ/ is for$ed in the conte4t of a co$$onl/ e4perienced orld. 9 societ/ of this t/pe, hich in a
certain sense $er!es into the di$ension of the lifeorld, is o$nipresentC to put this another a/& it
reproduces itself as a hole in ever/ sin!le interaction.0"a#er$as, 1>?@, 1B@1. 3his is idealistic,
still $ore s/ste$ !ets developed, $ore lifeorld #eco$es $ore suppress and $ore provincial. 3his
is hen the uncouplin! ill start, #ecause the develop$ent of the one social level, ill #eco$e
$ore independent and separated fro$ the develop$ent of the other. .n a differentiated social
s/ste$s the lifeorld see$s to shrin2 to a su#s/ste$ 0"a#er$as, 1>?@, 1@=1. 3he $odel he ill
su!!est is #rin!in! social idea to the #e!innin!s sa/in! that as the ne $echanis$s are #ein!
adopted, the/ suppose to #e anchored in the lifeorld via fa$il/ status, authorit/ of the office etc.
"a#er$as rites& 8this #asic institutions for$ a series of evolutionar/ inovations that can co$e
a#out onl/ if the lifeorld is sufficientl/ rationali7ed, a#ove all if la and $oralit/ have reached a
correspondin! sta!e of develop$ent8 0"a#er$as, 1>?@, 1@=1. ;i$pl/ put, the ne $echanis$s that
are co$in! fro$ the s/ste$ differentiation, need to #e institutionali7ed #/ $a2in! the chan!es in
the $oral5le!al fra$e of the institutional do$ain. 3hat $eans that the social inte!ration is
connected to the develop$ent of la and $oralit/. "a#er$as ill !ive three sta!es in this la
develop$ent& first, here $oral and la are not separatedC second, here the separation is startin!
#/ processes of differentiationC and third, hen $oralit/ is deinstitutionalised to such an e4tent that
is no anchored onl/ in the personalit/ s/ste$ as an internal control of #ehaviour 0"a#er$as,
1>?@, 1@41. <ith such a develop$ent, la #eco$es an e4ternal force to such an e4tent that $odern
la #eco$es an institution detached fro$ the ethical $otivations of the le!al person and depends
upon a#stract o#edience of the la. 3his develop$ent is part of the structural differentiation of the
lifeorld 0"a#er$as, 1>?@, 1@41. .n the $odern orld, ith the processes of the $oderni7ation,
uncouplin! is #eco$in! stron!er ith ne differentiations of the s/ste$s that are not correspondin!
to the levels of rationali7ation in the lifeorlds. 3he to levels are startin! to develop
independentl/ fro$ each other and "a#er$as ill #uilt his $odern societ/ critiEue around this idea
of the social realit/.
Feferences
"a#er$as, Juer!en& 83he 3heor/ of Co$$unicative 9ction8, 'ol.2 5 8Lifeorld and
;/ste$& CritiEue of Functionalist Feason8, 1>?@, Beacon -ress, Boston.
"a#er$as, Jir!en& 8-ro#le$i dvostepeno! 2oncepta druGtva& siste$ i svet Hivota 0od!ovor
*e2arti(u18, u& ;rps2a politiI2a $isao, #r. 154 7a 1>>D, Beo!rad.
.v2ovic, *ar(an, "a#er$asJ Concept of ;/ste$ic Coloni7ation of Lifeorld, 2010, Sociologi!a 'ol.
L.. 020101, KL 1, Beo!rad.