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DISCUSSION
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rational society. Before discussing my objections to his theory, I would
like to explicate Habermas' arguments for the possibility and feasibility
of critique and rationality. This in turn requires locating the theory of
practical rationality within the general context of his ontological and
epistemological critical system. Habermas' theory of practical ration-
ality is based upon, and supported by, fundamental premises of his
sociological, methodological, linguistic, and psychological assumptions.
(1) At a sociological level Habermas' notion of practical rationality is
based upon his theory of the unity of subject and object, his theory of
the autonomy of symbolic interactions from the realm of instrumental
action, and his theory of reification and ideology. In fact, the basic
premises of his system can ultimately be understood in terms of his
historicist assumption of the unity of subject and object in socio-
historical reality. For Habermas, the basic ontological characteristics of
society are that a society is created by the actions and interactions of
individual human beings and has no independent "natural" existence
outside human relations.9 In this regard, Habermas' critical theory
radically departs from a structuralistic perspective and emphasizes
human agency and the significance of meanings and consciousness in
historical development.1° But if society is created by the actions and
interactions of individuals, it is natural to argue that a rational society,
i.e., a society determined by the conscious democratic decisions of its
individual members, is an objective and concrete possibility. Moreover,
according to Habermas the creation of society by human beings takes
place through the two autonomous systems of instrumental action and
symbolic interaction. Rejecting economistic Marxism, Habermas con-
trasts the dialogic nature of institutional, normative arrangements to the
monological character of technology and forces of production. 11 The
assumption of the qualitative autonomy of institutional norms from the
logic of instrumental action is used by Habermas to criticize a tech-
nocratic reduction of practical rationality to the level of instrumental
rationality. This in turn explains Habermas' definition of a rational
society in terms of the rule of both technological professionalism and
democracy.
Finally, Habermas' assumption of the possibility of rationality is
implicit in his theory of reification and ideology. According to him,
society is created by individuals, but individuals can create society in a