Jurgen Habermas, the philosopher, sociologist and university professor who represented like few others Germany's desire to redeem itself from its tragic past by recovering the universalistic values of dialogue and reason, has died at the age of 96.
A leading figure of the Frankfurt School, he was the most influential German intellectual of his generation: involved in all the major postwar debates, he saw Europe as the only remedy for the rise of nationalism. A staunch supporter of a federal European project, public engagement was, in his view, "philosophy's most important task."
From Starnberg, Bavaria, where he had lived for decades, Habermas lectured regularly until his death . In two opinion pieces published in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he argued for the need for negotiations with Russia.
Europe has always inspired Habermas's comments, interventions, and warnings. Along with his push for unification, he repeatedly criticized the European Union's political elites, advocating greater citizen involvement in the integration process.
(Unioneonline)
