Abstract:
This theoretical essay aims to pay a tribute to Alberto Guerreiro Ramos on the eve of his centenary. Thus, our approach consists in highlighting the vigor of his work by covering the main epistemological contributions, above all regarding the rationality issue, which is also discussed from the first generation critical theorists and Jürgen Habermas' viewpoint. The debate mainly focuses on the concepts of substantive and communicative rationality, as a counterpoint to the instrumental trend. Instrumental rationality, regarding its utilitarian, impersonal, and mechanistic nature, became hegemonic in the industrial modern society. In opposition, the concepts of substantiveness and communicativeness emerge, which, linked to the human psyche by means of ethical and moral features, perhaps constitute the best sustainable alternative for reversing the one-dimensionalization process. By comparing Ramos and Habermas' writings, both regarding the solution to the rationality issue and concerning the society models proposed by both of them, this theoretical essay promotes the conciliation between the Brazilian author's ideas and the current critical theory, demonstrating their complementarities and boundaries.
Keywords:
substantive rationality; critical theory; communicative rationality.
