The Paradigmatic Status of Modern Communication Theory

The article is devoted to the study of the claims of communication theory to the possession of a paradigmatic status in the modern philosophy of science. The evolution of communication theory traces from a narrowly instrumental component of various scientific theories to an independent theory that could obtain the status of a specific scientific paradigm. The phenomenological concept of E. Husserl, the methodology of critical conventionalism of K. Popper, the theory of communicative action by Y. Habermas and a number of provisions of the existential studies of K. Jaspers are considered in the article from the point of view of their significance for the critical study of the claims of communication theory to the paradigmatic status. The conditions of rational communicative discourse are defined and the key provisions of its ethics are analyzed. As a result of the study, it is shown that the discursive validity of the choice of social norms and the achievement of normatively significant recognition as a result of intersubjective mutual understanding are the key grounds for recognition of paradigmatic status for communication theory.