Abstract

Axel Honneth’s work since Kampf um Anerkennung is one of the most influential attempts to update Hegel’s early intersubjectivity-theoretical conception. However, it seems that, especially in his more recent writings, Honneth´s Hegelian roots do not receive the emphasis they deserve. In what follows, I shall discuss a few aspects of this relative forgetfulness of Hegel, which, in my view, cause inconsistencies that could be avoided through a stronger adherence to Hegel. I will argue that, first, some of Honneth’s accounts of recognition and social freedom do not appear to be fully consistent with Hegel’s socio-ontological intentions; and, second, that the reference to Hegel’s conception of Sittlichkeit and, hence, to the immanent character that Honneth claims for his critique, occasionally seems ambiguous. This is the case, for example, with his more recent interpretations of social evils as pathologies, noticeable for instance in his new understanding of the capitalist market.