Struggle for Recognition -- Frontiers of the Century

Author: (German) Honneth
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Unlike works that merely focus on explanations of some phenomena within the Young Hegel's theory of recognition, this book elucidates a socially normative theory based on the "struggle for recognition" model of Young Hegel. This model is grounded in three propositions: the formation of the practical self relies on intersubjective recognition; in the process of subjectivity formation, there exist three forms of recognition: love, law, and solidarity; these three forms of recognition follow a developmental logic mediated by stages of moral struggle. Drawing on Mead's social psychology, this book achieves an empirical transformation of Hegel's concept, forming the idea of a social critical theory. According to this theory, to explain social change processes, one must adopt the normative requirements inherent within the relationships of mutual recognition.