Abstract:

In contemporary political sociology, there is an apparent tension between the empirical theory and the normative theory of legitimacy.By "disenchanting" the ultimate values of the traditional normative theory of legitimacy, the empirical theory gives rise to the decline of the normative theory.However, the radically "instrumental" orientation of the empirical theory makes it easy to be integrated into the "control system of political discourse" and become a tool of "epistemic enslavement".It has become an essential part of the reflection and reconstruction of modernity to reflect on the empirical theory and reconstruct a new normative theory of legitimacy.

Key words: normative theory of legitimacy, empirical theory of legitimacy, tool, value, modernity