Jurgen Habermas, the philosopher who shaped Germany’s post-war conscience, dies at 96

Jurgen Habermas, best known for his theory of political consensus-building, shaped the discourse of post-war ⁠Germany more than any other popular intellectual.He died on Saturday, aged 96, in Starnberg, ⁠Germany, the publisher Suhrkamp said.Over the course of seven decades, his public interventions – from searing critiques of fascist thought in the 1950s to more recent warnings against resurgent militarism and nationalism in Germany – steered the country at critical junctions.Not only his longevity, but also the renewed relevance of his ideas are remarkable in a country where post-war pacifism is waning and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has become the second-strongest party in parliament.Born on June 18, 1929 to a bourgeois family in Dusseldorf, Jurgen Habermas underwent two surgeries after birth and in early childhood ‌for a cleft palate.A resulting speech impediment is often cited as having influenced his work on communication.