It almost seems that you can't be taken seriously as a critical thinker today if you are not au fait with the works of Foucault, Derrida, and other French intellectuals. But there is an alternative tradition for those who fear that deconstruction leads only to nihilism. Reconstructing Theory introduces the key thinkers of this alternative tradition—Gadamer, Habermas and Luhmann—and provides succinct outlines of their major works. It investigates their contributions to social and cultural theory, and also analyses the influences of Jauss, Iser and Peter and Christa Burger on literary theory. Whether you are a student of philosophy, literature, society or culture, you will find this book not only an accessible but a provocative introduction to the influential and controversial writings of some the major modern social and cultural theorists. It may after all be possible to do more than despair at our inability to explain the world.