The spheres of recognition: an introduction to Axel Honneth

Abstract

This essay considers the patterns of inter-subjective recognition - love, right and solidarity - in the book of Axel Honneth, Struggle for recognition: the moral grammar of social conflicts. In a short way, it presents the distinction of the three spheres or dimensions of recognition - that of the affections and the self-confidence; that of the laws and rights, of the self-respect; that of the self-esteem and social solidarity. It is remembered the theory of recognition of G.W.F. Hegel, first reference of the reflection of Honneth, and also those of G. Mead and D. Winnicott, to whom the author pay special attention. The aim is to suggest, in the critical and dialectical tradition, new lines to serve the researchers of work, leisure and educational relationships.