Jürgen Habermas of Germany, regarded as a giant of modern social philosophy, died on the 14th (local time) at age 96.
According to the Associated Press and DW, German publisher Suhrkamp said Habermas closed his eyes that day in Starnberg, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany.
Habermas is regarded as the most influential philosopher of the 20th century and a leading figure in the German intellectual sphere. His major works include "The Theory of Communicative Action" and "The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere." The two books are assessed as works that established the value of rational discourse and communication among citizens in modern democratic societies.
Born in June 1929 in Düsseldorf, Germany, he studied philosophy, psychology, German literature, economics, and more at universities including Zurich and Bonn. He then built a full-fledged academic career from the 1950s at the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, the cradle of the Frankfurt School, considered the ideological root of Europe's progressive movement.
He did not confine himself to academia but also actively engaged with real-world political issues for decades, earning a reputation as a public intellectual in action. Having witnessed Nazi Germany's defeat and the horrors of the Holocaust, Habermas confronted attempts to glorify or dilute Germany's past wrongs.
The Associated Press noted that Habermas was born with a cleft palate and had to undergo several operations in childhood, and introduced that this experience influenced his philosophical thinking about language and communication.