Critical Theory originated in the perception by a group of German Marxists after the First World War that the Marxist analysis of capitalism had become deficient both empirically and with regard to its consequences for emancipation, and much of their work has attempted to deepen and extend it in new circumstances. Yet much of this revision has been in the form of piecemeal modification. In his latest work, Habermas has returned to the study of capitalism, incorporating the distinctive modifications of the Frankfurt School into the foundations of the critique of capitalism. Drawing on both systems theory and phenomenological sociology as well as Marxism, the author distinguishes four levels of capitalist crisis - economic, rationality, legitimation, and motivational crises. In his analysis, all the Frankfurt focus on cultural, personality, and authority structures finds its place, but in a systematic framework. At the same time, in his sketch of communicative ethics as the highest stage in the internal logic of the evolution of ethical systems, the author hints at the source of a new political practice that incorporates the imperatives of evolutionary rationality.

哈贝马斯(Juergen Habermas)生于1929年，曾先后在德国哥廷根大学、瑞士苏黎士大学，德国波恩大学学习哲学、心理学、历史学、经济学等，并以论文《论谢林思想中的矛盾》获哲学博士学位；1961年以《公共领域的结构转型》（已有中译本）一书获得教授资格。1961- 1964任海德堡大学哲学教授1964-1967任法兰克福大学哲学-社会学教授、法兰克福大学社会研究所所长1971-1983任德国马格斯。布朗克研究院科技世界生活条件研究所（Max-Planck Instut zur Erforschung der Lebensbedingungen der wissenschaftlich-techneschen Welt）所长1983-1994任法兰克福大学哲学-社会学教授，1994年退休。

退休后仍然从事研究、著述和学术政治活动。90年代，他同弟子以及现任德国外长、当时的黑森州环境部长菲舍尔一起组织政治俱乐部，定期举行政治沙龙，从政治哲学的角度讨论内政外交问题，对现政府外交政策发生了直接影响。有人认为，德国提出的欧盟改革的一揽子计划的建议就同哈贝马斯的话语政治模式有内在的联系。1998年德国大选中，哈贝马斯在关键时刻为社会民主党大造舆论，提供理论支持。哈贝马斯是当代西方马克思主义的主要代表人物，理论社会学家，哲学家，在德国、欧洲、北美哲学社会学有着广泛的影响，是已经载入各国哲学教科书和社会学理论教科书的重要思想家。他是一为多产作家，几乎每一两年就有重要著作问世。90年代有人曾说过，哈贝马斯的每一本著作的出版都是哲学界的一件大事。