Recognition as a Philosophical Practice

From “Warring” Attitudes to Cooperative Projects

Bibliographic Data

ID12643263
AuthorsMiriam Bankovsky (0000-0001-6602-9955, La Trobe University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume22
Issue1
Pages29-55
Publication date2021-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Horizons (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1440-9917 • E-ISSN: 1568-5160
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14409917.2021.1886669
OpenAlexW3134845168
LanguageEN
References cited51

What does it mean to practice a theory of recognition within the discipline of philosophy? Across an initially acrimonious French-German divide, Axel Honneth’s effort to recognise the value of contemporary French philosophy and social theory suggests that philosophy is a self-critical, outwardly oriented, and cooperative discipline. First, mobilising the idea of recognition in his own philosophical practise has permitted Honneth to notice non-deliberative aspects of social interaction that Habermas had overlooked, including the need for self-confidence (drawn from a “deconstructive” ethics of care) and the need for self-esteem (informed by Sartre’s and Foucault’s attention to the existential damage caused by denigration, and the nefarious effects of reproductive power). Second, although Honneth’s ascription of value to contemporary French theory also involves mis-recognition, his practice of recognition has nonetheless prompted philosophical cooperation among theorists who would not otherwise have engaged, encouraging French-influenced critical theorists to extend Honneth’s theory in ways that he had not anticipated. What emerges is an interpretation of philosophy as an ongoing intersubjective pursuit that attempts to respond to its own limitations through cooperative critique

Ascription · Critical theory · Epistemology · Existentialism · Interpretation (philosophy · Power (physics · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism

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