Life-World and Information Technology - a Habermasian Approach

This paper aims at clarifying the relationship between life-world and information technology. The concept of a life-world, originally found in phenomenology, has been used as a central idea in the theories of Jürgen Habermas. The first part of the paper will give an outline of Habermas' theory of communicative action and what role the idea of a life-world plays therein. It will be shown that the life-world is the basis of discourse, the reason for validity claims and their discussion and that discourses finally aim at producing congruent life-worlds in the participants of discourses. The second part of the paper will then analyse the impact that the use of computers and IT has on life-worlds. It will become clear that these influences are diverse and of different qualities. IT can improve discourses, strengthen validity claims and thereby equalise differing views of truth, morality, and personal authenticity, thus leading to consensus about life-worlds. The use of IT can also have the opposite effect and destroy consensus and negatively affect discourses. Through the course of the paper it should then become clear that the questions discussed, even though of a rather abstract and philosophical nature, have very direct repercussions for our perception of reality and thus for the management of IT.