At 14:30 pm on June 15, 2018, at the invitation of the Faculty of Education, Prof. Nicholas C. Burbules of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign made a presentation entitled Habermas, Speech Act Theory, and the Many Layers of Communication in Room 1013 of the Liberal Arts Building. The seminar was chaired by Prof. Cheng Liang, and more than 30 teachers and students participated.
First, Prof. Burbules traced the ideological origins of Habermas's communicative action theory, including Ludwig Wittgenstein's "language game" and John Austin's "verbal behavior" theory.
Secondly, Professor Burbules drew Habermas's remarks on the basis of the three speech acts of "locutionary", "illocutionary", and "perlocutionary" of Austin. The three validity claims of communicative action are truth, sincerity, and rightness. Prof. Burbules explained the connotation and characteristics of the three in a simple and easy-going manner, and summarized the differences between communicative action and strategic action.
Finally, Professor Burbules interacted with teachers and students on several issues. For example: What are the differences of interaction between Habermas and Dewey? How are the relationship between the three validity claims? Who is more important? Whether the school as a living world is possible, and how communicative action theory guides educational practice and handles classroom work? Problems such as the authenticity of the teaching process. He stressed that the three are equally important in practical application. It is necessary for school education to provide a true, sincere and legitimate environment. At the same time, we should adhere to the idea of communicative action in the education process and guard the authenticity of the students communicate this authenticity to cultivate students' honest qualities.
