O conceito de responsabilidade em Karl-Otto Apel

Abstract

The present thesis investigates the ultimate transcendental-pragmatic foundation of' responsibility in its various levels, such as it was accomplished by Karl-Otlo Apel within the theoretical framework, of discourse ethics. Firstly, we seek for establishing, through a transcendental-pragmatic reflection over the presuppositions of argumentative discourse, the primordial concept of co-responsibility as a duty of reciprocal anil universal responsibility for the argumentative solution of problems that affect the world as a whole. Secondly, we shall establish, from the primordial co-responsibility, lhe concept of history-related responsibility. This last concept should do justice to lhe problem concerning the right to demand in a real context of action, in which one cannot rely on the reciprocal assumption of the primordial co-responsibility. Based on the reasoning sketched above, we can show that the history-related concept of responsibility involves the transformation, or maintenance, of socio-historical conditions, so that lhe primordial co-responsibility can be demanded in any environment where human interaction takes place