Habermas

Jürgen Habermas, who has died aged 96, had a lot of interesting things to say, even if many of these tend to sound a bit like the text on motivational posters in a German office.

Anyway, here are some nuggets which shone at me...

"One never really knows who one's enemy is."

"One cannot lead a war against a network if the term war is to retain any definite meaning."

“The scientistic faith in a science that will one day not only fulfill, but eliminate, personal self-conception through objectifying self-description is not science, but bad philosophy.”

"Since our complex societies are highly susceptible to interferences and accidents, they certainly offer ideal opportunities for a prompt disruption of normal activities."

"Global terrorism is extreme both in its lack of realistic goals and in its cynical exploitation of the vulnerability of complex systems."

“Only by externalization, by entering into social relationships, can we develop the interiority of our own person.”

“A 'post-truth democracy' [...] would no longer be a democracy.”

― Between Naturalism and Religion: Philosophical Essays

(And one from the tea room: "Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.")