Lasse Thomassen is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Politics at Queen Mary, University of London, and García-Pelayo Fellow at the Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, Madrid, Spain. He is the author of Deconstructing Habermas (Routledge, 2007) and editor of The Derrida-Habermas Reader (Edinburgh UP, 2006) and Radical Democracy (Manchester UP, 2005).

"In this introduction to Jurgen Habermas, Thomassen attempts to make the work of this German political philosopher more accessible to readers encountering it for the first time. The book covers all of Habermas' major topics, including his writings on the public sphere, his theories of communicative action, validity, and deliberative democracy, and his most recent work on supra-national democratic institutions and the role of religion in contemporary societies. Thomassen places Habermas' writings into their political and philosophical contexts, and contrasts his work with that of other thinkers, especially the members of the Frankfurt School." -Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc.

• 1. Introduction 2. Towards a Critical Theory of Society3. The Public Sphere4. Communicative Action and Reason5. Discourse Ethics6. Deliberative Democracy7. The New Political ConstellationBibliography Index

Lasse Thomassen is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Politics at Queen Mary, University of London, and García-Pelayo Fellow at the Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, Madrid, Spain. He is the author of Deconstructing Habermas (Routledge, 2007) and editor of The Derrida-Habermas Reader (Edinburgh UP, 2006) and Radical Democracy (Manchester UP, 2005).

"In this introduction to Jurgen Habermas, Thomassen attempts to make the work of this German political philosopher more accessible to readers encountering it for the first time. The book covers all of Habermas' major topics, including his writings on the public sphere, his theories of communicative action, validity, and deliberative democracy, and his most recent work on supra-national democratic institutions and the role of religion in contemporary societies. Thomassen places Habermas' writings into their political and philosophical contexts, and contrasts his work with that of other thinkers, especially the members of the Frankfurt School." -Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc.

• 1. Introduction 2. Towards a Critical Theory of Society3. The Public Sphere4. Communicative Action and Reason5. Discourse Ethics6. Deliberative Democracy7. The New Political ConstellationBibliography Index

Lasse Thomassen is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory in the Department of Politics at Queen Mary, University of London, and García-Pelayo Fellow at the Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, Madrid, Spain. He is the author of Deconstructing Habermas (Routledge, 2007) and editor of The Derrida-Habermas Reader (Edinburgh UP, 2006) and Radical Democracy (Manchester UP, 2005).

"In this introduction to Jurgen Habermas, Thomassen attempts to make the work of this German political philosopher more accessible to readers encountering it for the first time. The book covers all of Habermas' major topics, including his writings on the public sphere, his theories of communicative action, validity, and deliberative democracy, and his most recent work on supra-national democratic institutions and the role of religion in contemporary societies. Thomassen places Habermas' writings into their political and philosophical contexts, and contrasts his work with that of other thinkers, especially the members of the Frankfurt School." -Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc.

• 1. Introduction 2. Towards a Critical Theory of Society3. The Public Sphere4. Communicative Action and Reason5. Discourse Ethics6. Deliberative Democracy7. The New Political ConstellationBibliography Index