Habermas as an ethnic thinker Par Excellence: On critique, Palestine and the role of intellectuals

Abstract

Taking Habermas’ 2023 statement on Palestinians-Israel as the point of entry, this article examines his concept of critique. Against the dominant view of him as a philosopher of ‘universalism’ and ‘critical rationality,’ my thesis is that Habermas is an ethnic thinker, for, his ideas of critique and universalism unidirectionally rest on ‘to all’ rather than ‘from all.’ Consequently, it is missionary and borders on Islamophobia, particularly after 9/11. I show how Habermas’ denial of Palestinians’ genocide and his unqualified support to ‘Israel's right to exist’ as integral to Germany's ‘democratic ethos’ is neither an ample departure from his participation in the Hitler Youth nor from his understanding of the Enlightenment-modernity but largely their offshoots. I also juxtapose Habermas’ role as a public intellectual with that of Imam Malik (d. 795) who chose to be flogged rather than parrot unjust language of power elites. I conclude with three broad implications this article has in the field of teaching in higher education.