Habermas three types of interests
Habermas identifies three interests:
| TYPE | |
|---|---|
| Technical | Interest in the control and manipulation of the physical world. |
| Practical | Interest in communicating with and understanding other people. |
| Emancipatory | Interest in self-development and freedom from false ideas. |
Critical Theory applied to the history of management science
Step 1: OR initially developed as an example of applied natural science (technical interest), concerned with the manipulation and control of a supposedly objective world, finding efficient means of meeting specified ends.
Step 2: The limited success of this approach led to the development of soft systems. Attention switched to the subjective world of individuals' beliefs and expectations, and methods of reaching consensus. This clearly mirrors the practical interest in understanding and agreement.
Step 3: The limitations of the interpretive/hermeneutic view are being brought out by the development of critical management science, which falls within the emancipatory interest.
Habermas argues that these interests have developed through the biological evolution of the species.
- The need for physical survival and manipulation of the environment has led to the development of technical knowledge, the purpose of which is prediction and control. This has been supplied by natural science which is fundamentally instrumental.
- The development of language led to the possibility of communication and the cooperative coordination of action. In this domain of practical activity, the fundamental need is for understanding-making sense of what others mean-and, through discussion and argument, reaching agreement and consensus. This provides a foundation for the interpretive or cultural sciences such as hermeneutics.
- In an ideal world, the above two knowledge domains would be sufficient. However, Habermas argues that both of them have been distorted by the socio-political environment in which they have developed. The instrumental rationality of natural science has been illegitimately applied to the social realm, and our language and communication are constantly undermined by the power structures of society and the lack of free and open discussion. There is thus a need for a third type of knowledge-critical science and philosophy-which aims to reveal these illusions and distortions. This is based on an interest in genuine self-development and freedom from ideology and false belief. The ultimate goal is a properly 'rational' society; that is, one in which genuinely free and equal debate allows the citizens to determine their own destiny.
(From Mingers, 1992)
References
- Mingers, J. (1992). Recent developments in critical management science. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 43(1), 1-10.