RECOGNITION, JUSTICE AND SOCIAL PATHOLOGIES IN AXEL HONNETH'S RECENT WRITINGS

Abstract

The paper discusses Axel Honneth’s recent book on reification and its relation to Honneth’s theory of recognition. It critically examines Honneth’s hypothesis concerning the existential roots of recognition, and compares two classical concepts of social critique, reification and alienation, in order to argue for the superiority of the latter over the former.