The Philosophy of Recognition

Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch, Christopher F. Zurn

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2009
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780739144275
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

The theory of recognition is now a well-established and mature research paradigm in philosophy, and it is both influential in and influenced by developments in other fields of the humanities and social sciences. From debates in moral philosophy about the fundamental roots of obligation, to debates in political philosophy about the character of multicultural societies, to debates in legal theory about the structure and justification of rights, to debates in social theory about the prospects and proper objects of critical theory, to debates in ontology, philosophical anthropology and psychology about the structure of personal and group identities, theories based on the concept of intersubjective recognition have staked out central positions. At the same time, contemporary theories of recognition are strongly, perhaps indissociably, connected to themes in the history of philosophy, especially as treated in German idealism.

This volume compromises a collection of original papers by eminent international scholars working at the forefront of recognition theory and provides an unparalleled view of the depth and diversity of philosophical research on the topic. Its particular strength is in exploring connections between the history of philosophy and contemporary research by combining in one volume full treatments of classical authors on recognition-Rousseau, Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Marx, Freud-with cutting edge work by leading contemporary philosophers of recognition, including Fraser, Honneth, and others.

Table of contents

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Rousseau and the Human Drive for Recognition (Amour Propre)
• 3 Recognition and Embodiment: Fichte’s Materialism
• 4 “The Pure Notion of Recognition”: Reflections on the Grammar of the Relation of Recognition in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit
• 5 Recognition in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit and Contemporary Practical Philosophy
• 6 Recognition, the Right, and the Good
• 7 Producing for Others
• 8 “Recognition” in Psychoanalysis
• 9 Rethinking Recognition
• 10 Work and Recognition: A Redefinition
• 11 Taking on the Inheritance of Critical Theory: Saving Marx by Recognition?
• 12 Can the Goals of the Frankfurt School be Achieved by a Theory of Recognition?
• 13 Critique of Political Economy and Contemporary Critical Theory: A Defense of Honneth’s Theory of Recognition
• 14 On the Scope of “Recognition”: The Role of Adequate Regard and Mutuality
• 15 Making the Best of What We Are: Recognition as an Ontological and Ethical Concept
• About the Contributors