Abstract:
The article discusses Karl-Otto Apel’s fundamental contribution to contemporary practical philosophy. It focuses on such issues as transcendental-pragmatic justification of discourse ethics, as
well as applied aspects of humanity’s common responsibility. This includes application of moral
norms to such social systems as science, politics, economics, environment etc. The text underlines
that Apel’s communicative philosophy is gaining significant validity for contemporary Ukrainian
society, in particular for modernization of its social systems, rationalization of lifeworlds and developing institutions of civil society, which is an important factor of creating contemporary identity
of Ukrainians.