The essay addresses, on a legal philosophy perspective, the possible interweaving between the metaphorical meaning and the working meaning of the notion of vulner­ability, especially focussing on the critical-hermeneutic relevance, which it has taken over the last decade. Building upon Habermas’s essays about legal reasoning and Life­world, this paper aims at highlighting a formulation of the category which combines both the transformations of society and the critical-hermeneutical requirements of the law. It finally shows that the notion of vulnerability plays a central role with regard to the specific modern law’s value of individual autonomy.

Keywords
Vulnerability – Criticism – Hermeneutics – Legal Reasoning – Lifeworld – Autonomy – Modernity