The Bounds of Reason: Habermas, Lyotard and Melanie Klein on Rationality

This is a study of the debate between modernity and postmodernity. The author explains the modernity/postmodernity dispute by examining the problem that has driven the whole debate: whether the use of reason is an emancipatory or enslaving force. It sets out this debate by examining the arguments of two of its key proponents, Jurgen Habermas and Jean-Francois Lyotard. She explains Habermas’ defence of modernity and his attempt to salvage Enlightenment ideas of truth, justice, and freedom through the use of reason. She contrasts this with Lyotard’s postmodernism and his scepticism about the use of reason and its claims to universalism and objectivity.