Jürgen Habermas's discourse theory demands that human beings see themselves in relations of solidarity that cross national, racial, and religious divides. While his theory has won adherents across a spectrum of contemporary debates, the required vision of solidarity has remained largely unexplored. In The Ends of Solidarity, Max Pensky fills this void by examining Habermas's theory of solidarity, while also providing a comprehensive introduction to the German philosopher's work. Pensky explores the impact of Habermasian discourse theory on a range of contemporary debates in politics and ethics, including the prospect of a cosmopolitan democracy across national borders; the solidarity demanded by the integration process in the European Union; the demands that immigration dynamics make on inclusive democratic societies; the divisive or unifying effects of religion in Western democracies; and the current controversies in genetic technology.

Preface 1. Solidarity The Adventures of a Concept between Fact and Norm 2. "No forced Unity" Cosmopolitan Democracy, National Identity, and Political Solidarity 3. Migration and Solidarity Studies in Immigration Law and Policy 4. Constitutional Solidarity and Constitutional Scope The Dynamics of Immigration and the Constitutional Project of the European Union 5. Brussels or Jerusalem? Civil Society and Religious Solidarity in the New Europe 6. Justice and Solidarity Discourse Ethics 7. All that Bears a Human Face Genetic Technologies, Philosophical Anthropology, and the Ethical Self-Understanding of the Species Notes Index