Abstract
The Recognition Theory of Axel Honneth has become popular among Japanese sociologists after his main works were translated into Japanese. However, his sociological critique of contemporary society has not been well studied. This paper has two purposes. First I make clear the similarities and differences between Honneth and Habermas, paying attention to the concept of ‘the emancipative instance before theory.’ According to Honneth, Habermas is too much concentrated on clarifying the transcendental condition of reaching an agreement and put much emphasis only on the linguistic rules and their social processes beyond consciousness. As the result of this, Habermas’ theory is said to miss the emancipative instance before theory. Honneth, on the contrary, finds out this in the consciousness of injustice of the depressed. Second I examine the content and logic of Honneth’s critique of the contemporary neo-liberal Reform. He reconsiders the three forms of recognition of his early theory and builds the four spheres of recognition. With these new concepts, he throws light on the paradoxical process from the social democratic era to the neo-liberal Reform. He concludes that under the neo-liberal Reform the moral progress during the age of the Social Democracy are paradoxically lost in the four spheres of recognition.
