Abstract
The paper explores the philosophical anthropology and the moral grammar of recognition. It does so by examining how the formation of the self is informed by social recognition, the result of which can motivate individuals and groups to engage in struggles for recognition. To pursue this task, the discussion focuses on the insights of Honneth, who grounds his theory of recognition in the intersubjective relations between persons. The idea that recognition impacts the formation of personal identity is regarded as susceptible to the charge of reducing recognition demands into demands for satisfying psychological needs. Contrary to this worry, the central claim of the paper is that such an identity-based understanding of recognition can still be salvaged. More precisely, this can be done by conceiving of demands of recognition as demands for inclusion into personhood through which the moral dimension of recognition struggles is properly understood. This article concludes that despite its potential ambiguities, the notion of personhood and its relation to recognition remains philosophically defensible.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appiah, Kwame Anthony. 2005. The ethics of identity. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Deranty, Jean-Philippe. 2009. Beyond communication: A critical study of Axel Honneth’s social philosophy. Leiden: Brill.
Feinberg, Joel. 1980. The nature and value of rights. In his Rights, justice, and the bounds of liberty: Essays in social philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Forst, Rainer. 2002. Contexts of justice: Political philosophy beyond liberalism and communitarianism. (trans: Farrell, John M. M). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Fraser, Nancy. 2003. Social justice in the age of identity politics: Redistribution, recognition and participation; Distorted beyond all recognition: A rejoinder to Axel Honneth. In Redistribution or recognition? A political-philosophical exchange, eds. Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth (trans: Joel Golb, James Ingram, Christiane Wilke), 7–111, 198–236. New York: Verso.
Geertz, Clifford. 1973. Person, time, and conduct in Bali. In his The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York: Basic Books.
Gehlen, Arnold. 1971. Der Mensch: Seine Natur und seine Stellung in der Welt, 9th ed. Frankfurt: Athenäum.
Honneth, Axel. 2002. Grounding recognition: A rejoinder to critical questions. Inquiry 45: 499–520.
Honneth, Axel. 2004. From struggles for recognition to a plural concept of justice: An interview with Axel Honneth. Acta Sociologica 47: 380–391.
Honneth, Axel. 1995. The struggle for recognition: The moral grammar of social conflicts. (trans: Anderson, Joel). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Honneth, Axel, and Joel Anderson. 2005. Autonomy, vulnerability, recognition, and justice. In Autonomy and the challenge to liberalism: new essays, ed. John Christman, and Joel Anderson, 127–149. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Honneth, Axel, and Hans, Joas. 1988. Social action and human nature (trans: Reymond Meyer). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ikäheimo, Heikki. 2007. Recognizing persons. Journal of Consciousness Studies 5–6: 224–247.
Ikäheimo, Heikki. 2010. Making the best of what we are: Recognition as an ontological and ethical Concept. In The philosophy of recognition: Historical and contemporary perspectives, ed. Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch, and Zurn Christopher, 340–367. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Kearney, Richard. 2004. On Paul Ricoeur: The owl of minerva. Hants: Ashgate.
Kompridis, Nikolas. 2007. Struggling over the meaning of recognition: A matter of identity, justice, or freedom?’ European Journal of Political Theory 6: 277–289.
Laitinen, Arto. 2010. On the scope of recognition: The role of adequate regard and mutuality. In The philosophy of recognition: Historical and contemporary perspectives, eds Hans-Christoph Schmidt am Busch and Christopher Zurn, 319–342. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Levinas, Emmanuel. 1961. Totality and infinity: An essay on exteriority (trans: Alphonso Lingis). Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press.
Margalit, Avishai. 1996. The decent society (trans: Naomi Goldblum). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Markell, Patchen. 2003. Bound by recognition. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
McHugh, Ernestine. 1989. Concepts of the person among the gurungs of Nepal. American Ethnologist 16: 75–86.
Mead, George Herbert. 1964. Selected writings. Edited with an Introduction by Andrew E. Reck. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merril Company Inc.
Mead, George Herbert. 1974. Mind, self, and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Edited with introduction by Charles W. Morris. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Plessner, Helmut. 1975. Die Stufen des Organischen und der Mensch, 3rd ed. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Read, K.E. 1955. Morality and the concept of the person among the Gahuku-Gama. Oceania 25: 233–282.
Rorty, Richard. 1989. Contingency, irony and solidarity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Scheler, Max. 1981. Man’s place in nature. New York: FS & G.
Taylor, Charles. 1991. Dialogical self. In The interpretative turn: Philosophy, science, and culture, ed. David R. Hilary, 304–314. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Taylor, Charles. 1994. Politics of recognition. In Multiculturalism and the politics of recognition, ed. Amy Gutmann, 25–74. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pilapil, R.D. From Psychologism to Personhood: Honneth, Recognition, and the Making of Persons. Res Publica 18, 39–51 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-012-9184-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-012-9184-4