Essays on "The Philosophy of Recognition"

The Philosophy of Recognition:
Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

edited by Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch & Christopher F. Zurn

(Lexington Books, 2010)

378 pages


Description

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.

The book has been published in German: "Anerkennung" (Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie. Sonderband, 21; Akademie Verlag, 2009). Preview here.

Contents

Introduction (pdf) -Christopher F. Zurn

Rousseau and the Human Drive for Recognition (Amour Propre) -Frederick Neuhouser

Recognition and Embodiment (Fichte's Materialism) -Jay Bernstein

"The Pure Notion of Recognition": Reflections on the Grammar of the Relation of Recognition in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit -Michael Quante

Recognition in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and Contemporary Practical Philosophy - Ludwig Siep

Recognition, the Right, and the Good -Terry Pinkard

Producing For Others -Daniel Brudney

"Recognition" in Psychoanalysis -Andreas Wildt

Rethinking Recognition -Nancy Fraser

Work and Recognition: A Redefinition -Axel Honneth

Taking on the Inheritance of Critical Theory: Saving Marx by Recognition? -Emmanuel Renault

Can the Goals of the Frankfurt School be Achieved by a Theory of Recognition? -Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch

Critique of Political Economy and Contemporary Critical Theory: A Defense of Honneth's Theory of Recognition -Jean-Philippe Deranty

On the Scope of 'Recognition': The Role of Adequate Regard and Mutuality -Arto Laitinen

Making the Best of What We Are: Recognition as an Ontological and Ethical Concept -Heikki Ikäheimo

Reviews

"This collection of superb essays shows the productivity of philosophical perspectives that understand individual and social life as constituted by relations of—successful or failed—recognition. With this approach, normative considerations and critical social analysis can be combined, opening up new paths for research." -- Rainer Forst, Goethe-University Frankfurt

"...the volume as a whole amply displays the richness and fecundity of the recognition paradigm for exploring fundamental questions in social and political theory, as well as in ontology, the metaphysics of human agency, and the study of human nature." - Amy Allen, Dartmouth College (see Amy Allen's review here)