The contributors to this volume extend, expound and explain the key areas of social theory debated between Foucault and Habermas: the meaning of modernity; the function of reason; and the importance of political freedom. They reframe the issues and define the context of the debate.

Foucault contra Habermas is an incisive examination of, and a comprehensive introduction to, the debate between Foucault and Habermas over the meaning of enlightenment and modernity. It reprises the key issues in the argument between critical theory and genealogy and is organised around three complementary themes: defining the context of the debate; examining the theoretical and conceptual tools used; and discussing the implications for politics and criticism. In a detailed reply to Habermas' Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, this volume explains the difference between Habermas' philosophical practice and Foucault's between the analytics of truth and the politics of truth. Many of the most difficult arguments in the exchange are subject to a detailed critical analysis. This examination also includes discussion of the ethics of dialogue; the practice of criticism; the politics of recognition , and the function of civil society and democracy.

Introduction - Samantha Ashenden and David Owen

Foucault, Habermas and the Politics of Critique Orientation and Enlightenment - David Owen

An Essay on Critique and Genealogy Critical Spirituality - Thomas Osborne

On Ethics and Politics in the Later Foucault /f003Pas de deux - Daniel W Conway

Habermas and Foucault in Genealogical Communication To Think and Act Differently - James Tully

Foucault's Four Reciprocal Objections to Habermas' Theory Questions of Criticism - Samantha Ashenden

Habermas and Foucault on Civil Society and Resistance Normalizing Democracy - Mitchell Dean

Foucault and Habermas on Democracy, Liberalism and Law The Agony and the Ecstasy - Simon Thompson

Foucault, Habermas and the Problem of Recognition