♦ Last Updated on August 20, 2024 ♦
As you may know, I am interested in interpersonal relations, harmony, true love, and all the goodness that emanates from True Parents. Most recently, my husband started talking about the issue of recognition in people’s lives. He reads a lot, but what he said intrigued me, so I asked him to develop a blog post to explain. He got Generative AI to extract this following text from a lengthy essay on recognition, and I think the excerpt is valuable. Please read on...
Recognition
Recognition permeates myriad facets of existence: the resounding applause from an enraptured audience, an unexpected encounter with an old friend in a throng, the sting of a job application rejection due to age, the warmth of commendation from a venerable teacher, the unsettling experience of being dismissed by other singles for not looking like Barbie or Ken, or the effort to have your same-sex union officially sanctioned to enjoy the same benefits as heterosexual marriages. How we acknowledge others and are acknowledged shapes our life quality significantly. Theorists of recognition extend this notion, contending that recognition is pivotal in forging, or even defining, our self-perception and the value attributed to us as unique beings.
This essay delves into recognition’s role in personal identity construction and the normative bedrock it offers to enhance the world. It heavily references Axel Honneth’s contributions, a distinguished German philosopher. Honneth, holding prestigious positions at Goethe University Frankfurt and Columbia University, has prolifically expounded on recognition.
Among other notable thinkers in this realm are Charles Taylor and Nancy Fraser, whose works merit exploration for those vested in critical social theory. Honneth, however, stands out by drawing from right-Hegelian intersubjectivity to elucidate the mechanisms by which societal improvement is achieved, emphasizing recognition’s motivational and normative significance in legitimizing social movements sans a heavy reliance on Frankfurt School frameworks.
Defining Recognition
Recognition looks very different for humans and insects. Social insects – ants, wasps, bees and termites – rely on chemical badges of identity. Human society relies on networks of reciprocity and reputation, underpinned by language and culture.
Various attempts have been made to shed light on the essence of recognition. A core aspect of any definition is the requirement that recognition involves not merely being acknowledged by another but also that the recognized party deems the recognizer capable of bestowing such recognition. This necessitates valuing the recognizer for their recognition to hold weight. Some approach this through the lens of authority, suggesting genuine recognition requires authorizing someone to confer it. Likewise, authority and responsibility can be attained by soliciting recognition from others, indicating that one’s authority is contingent upon being recognized as such.
For instance, being valued by a notorious criminal does not constitute recognition in this context, as we do not regard them as capable of bestowing value upon us. Similarly, coerced recognition, such as a king demanding acknowledgment of his superiority under threat of punishment, lacks genuine value. Therefore, reciprocal recognition, where the recognizer is also recognized as capable of conferring recognition, is crucial, implying that mutuality is essential for proper recognition.
Spheres of Interaction
Honneth identifies three ‘spheres of interaction’ connected to the three ‘patterns of recognition’ necessary for an individual’s development of a positive relation to self. These are love, rights, and solidarity.
Love
The recognition mode termed ‘love’ pertains to our physical and emotional needs met by others within primary relationships (close friends, family, lovers). It fosters basic self-confidence, which can be devastated by physical abuse.
Rights
The recognition mode termed ‘rights’ involves the development of moral responsibility through moral relations with others. This mutual mode of recognition teaches individuals to view themselves as bearers of equal rights from their partners’ perspectives. The denial of rights through social and legal exclusion can undermine one’s sense of being an active, equal, and respected society member.
Solidarity
The recognition mode termed ‘solidarity’ relates to acknowledging our traits and abilities, vital for developing self-esteem and individuality. Unlike love and rights, which express universal human features, esteem requires a social medium to express characteristic differences between individuals universally and intersubjectively.
These three recognition spheres are crucial for developing a positive self-attitude:
For it is only due to the cumulative acquisition of basic self-confidence, of self-respect, and of self-esteem… that a person can come to see himself or herself, unconditionally, as both an autonomous and an individuated being and to identify with his or her goals and desires.
Denial of Recognition
Honneth posits that the denial of recognition underpins social struggles’ motivational and justificatory basis. Emotional experiences arising from others’ attitudes and actions towards us can reveal social recognition denial. Dewey’s theory of emotion as intentionally oriented supports this argument: negative emotions like shame, anger, and frustration result from failed actions, while positive emotions arise from successful ones. These negative emotional states can signal an injustice, indicating a lack of appropriate recognition.
However, Honneth notes that shame or anger do not necessarily disclose disrespectful relations; they provide the potential to identify perceived injustices warranting opposition. Experiences of disrespect can become the foundation for normatively justified social struggles, particularly within contexts where social movement articulation means are available, distinguishing coordinated resistance from individual acts of retaliation or undirected violence.
Experiences of Disrespect
This phenomenological approach to recognition situates social struggles’ source and justification in recognition experiences and expectations. This requires situating these experiences within a socially generated emancipatory discourse framework and establishing common experiences among individuals to transform individual frustrations into social struggles. Hence, Honneth emphasizes the importance of ensuring collective political action means and rights within societies. However, the fundamental component of identifying injustice and justifying necessary remedies lies in individual experiences of disrespect.
Honneth attributes an inherent expectation of recognition to humans, referring to demands arising from such an expectation as the ‘quasi-transcendental interests’ of humanity. Recognition failure becomes a motivational source through negative emotional experiences, allowing Honneth to view societal change as a developmental process driven by moral claims arising from disrespectful experiences. He summarizes his teleological account as follows:
Every unique historical struggle reveals its position within societal development once its role in establishing moral progress, in terms of recognition, is understood.
The Concept of the Good
Positing an ideal end-state, presumably where full recognition prevails, allows distinguishing progressive, emancipatory struggles from reactionary or oppressive ones. From this position of enabling self-realization of desires, characteristics, and abilities, we can assess socio-political struggles and their future directions to promote self-realization conditions.
Honneth specifies that he does not advocate a single, substantive set of universal values and social arrangements. Instead, his concept of ‘the good’ pertains to the ‘structural elements of ethical life’ enabling personal integrity. The normative claims’ posited ‘end-point’ must arise from structural relations in the three distinct recognition patterns fostering a positive self-relation. Honneth aims to retain a Kantian respect and autonomy notion by identifying self-realization and self-determination conditions, akin to a Kantian kingdom of ends where individuals receive and confer recognition.
Social recognition is powerful because it helps transform our lives one compliment at a time. It can boost morale and productivity, foster stronger families, and build successful workplace teams.
What do you think about my newfound focus on recognition?