Recognition, Transformation, and Critical Intellectual History: A Reply to Honneth’s Recognition: A Chapter in the History of Ideas

Abstract

This article critically responds to Axel Honneth’s Recognition: A Chapter in the History of Ideas. It argues that, although Recognition provides a compelling historical investigation into the history of the concept of recognition as it emerged in modern France, Great Britain, and Germany, Honneth’s text retains some questionable methodological commitments that undermine its more provocative and potentially wide-ranging contributions. This article interrogates these commitments in addition to some of Honneth’s more specific arguments to speculate about other lessons that Honneth’s history of recognition can provide.