Kritische Sprechakttheorie oder Semiotik der Macht? Habermas und die Wittgenstein-Tradition

The question how social power influences and determines the linguistically mediated understanding of agents concerns both critical social theory and critical hermeneutics. By drawing on Wittgenstein, Austin, and Searle, Habermas tries to reformulate the theoretical basis of a critical social theory in terms of a 'critical speech act theory'. As I show, serious problems and shortcomings arise concerning the related concept of three worlds, the formal-pragmatic theory of meaning, and the distinction between communicative and strategic action with regard to power. In order to overcome such difficulties, the idea of a `semiotics of power' is introduced.