HABERMAS' IDEAL SPEECH SITUATION

[Ralph Dumain]

I've never been inspired to go out of my way and research Habermas, but a
particular concern of mine has come to a head and it may well turn out that
Habermas' concern with systematically distorted communication and the ideal
speech situation may be right on target viz. the urgency of what has been
troubling me.  But I'm not intereted in the whole theory so much as I want
to know how certain questions are addressed.  Can someone give me a cheap,
quick, and dirty (as we used to say in the bookbinding business) response
to the following interrelated questions?

Is a particular type of use of language required or proscribed in the ideal
speech situation?  Do the norms of communication--which I assume (wrongly?)
to relate to postulates of individual autonomy, the right of free inquiry
and the untrammeled pursuit of truth, norms of rationality, and the goal of
transparent communication and human relations--demand a certain type of
language?  What does Habermas have to say about irony?  Metaphorical and
symbolic language?  Or flame wars?


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