We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2009
This chapter approaches the political significance of Honneth's theory of recognition by way of his articulation of an ideal of (radical) democracy as reflexive co-operation drawn, in large part, from the work of Dewey. The opening two sections of the chapter sketch the main features of this ideal and its apparent advantages with respect to competing proceduralist and republican ideals. It then proceeds to demonstrate the relationship between this ideal and the formal ethical account of the good that Honneth proposes in The Struggle for Recognition, before turning critically to evaluate the naturalistic moral psychology and theory of recognition that underpins Honneth's articulation of this ideal. The chapter concludes by drawing attention to a number of problems that this account identifies with Honneth's research project.
Honneth's argument for ‘democracy as reflexive co-operation’ is articulated by way of the claim that Dewey's mature democratic theory combines two elements: (1) a theory of human socialization that links self-realization to membership of a community of co-operation, and (2) an epistemological argument for democracy that emphasizes the rational value of democratic procedures for problem-solving. Let us address each in turn.
Honneth glosses Dewey's theory of human socialization thus:
From their completely open drives, which at first consist of nothing other than a multitude of undirected and thus formable impulses, human beings can develop only those capabilities and needs as stable habits of action which have met the approval and esteem of their particular reference group; the satisfaction that a subject has in realizing certain action impulses increases to the degree to which it can be sure of the recognition of its partners in interaction. […]
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
