A fil rouge goes through Habermas’s decade long research. It is the idea that Reason and rationality permeate human societies and may lead human action towards emancipation, if aptly elaborated through the filter of theoretical reflection. Theory must pick up on this rational core and turn the intrinsic rational potential inherent to modern societies into a self-consciously pursued ‘project of enlightenment’. This introduction to the special issue ‘Habermas, Democracy, and the Public Sphere: Theory and Practice’ shows how Habermas’s work in different scientific domains contributes to the construction of the ‘project of modernity’ from the many angles that such a complex project requires. The public sphere is, in Habermas’s theory, the societal domain in which communicative interactions have a chance to make Reason come to bear on human societies and lead them on the path to social and political emancipation. The contributions to this special issue focus therefore on the public sphere and illustrate the evolution of the concept in Habermas’s work and its relation to democracy at national and supranational level.

一个FIL胭脂经历了哈贝马斯长达十年的研究。如果通过理论反思的过滤器恰当地阐述，理性和理性渗透到人类社会并可能引导人类行动走向解放。理论必须抓住这一理性核心，将现代社会固有的内在理性潜力转变为自觉追求的“启蒙计划”。本期特刊“哈贝马斯、民主和公共领域：理论与实践”的介绍展示了哈贝马斯在不同科学领域的工作如何从如此复杂的项目所需的多个角度为“现代性项目”的构建做出贡献。在哈贝马斯的理论中，公共领域是 交流互动有机会使理性对人类社会产生影响并引导他们走上社会和政治解放的道路的社会领域。因此，对本期特刊的贡献集中在公共领域，并说明了哈贝马斯工作中概念的演变及其与国家和超国家层面民主的关系。