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ERIC Number: EJ969029
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Jul
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0039-3746
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Hegelians Axel Honneth and Robert Williams on the Development of Human Morality
Huttunen, Rauno
Studies in Philosophy and Education, v31 n4 p339-355 Jul 2012
An individual is in the lowest phase of moral development if he thinks only of his own personal interest and has only his own selfish agenda in his mind as he encounters other humans. This lowest phase corresponds well with sixteenth century British moral egoism which reflects the rise of the new economic order. Adam Smith (1723-1790) wanted to defend this new economic order which is based on economic exchange between egoistic individuals. Nevertheless, he surely did not want to support the moral theory of British egoism. His book "The Wealth of Nations" suits well into the world view of British moral egoism, but in the book "The Theory of Moral Sentiments", he presents a moral theory which is the total opposite of moral egoism. Contemporary German intellectuals saw contradiction in Adam Smith's moral (social) philosophy which they called as "Das Adam-Smith-Problem". Smith himself didn't think that there is any contradiction in a situation where in economic sphere (civil society) individual act egoistically and in ethical sphere (encounter with the imagined Other) he feels humanity and compassion toward his fellow men. Hegel was a passionate reader of Adam Smith and he acknowledged "Das Adam-Smith-Problem". He set the task of his social philosophy to overcome this paradox. He wanted to create a theory of a social totality where economic egoism and feelings of humanity are not in contradiction. In the same time Hegel wanted to create a theory on "Bildung" process where human spirit develops from moral un-freedom (heteronomy) to moral freedom and maturity (autonomy) taking care both aspect of love and reason. In certain Hegel's texts notion of recognition plays crucial role. That is why modern Hegelians Ludwig Siep, Axel Honneth and Robert Williams consider the notion of recognition to be elementary in Hegel's threefold theory of developing human spirit from "family" via "civil society" to "sittliche state". For Hegel family is a sphere where people love their "concrete other" and where feeling surpasses reason. Civil Society is a sphere of private contracts and economic exchanges where cold egoistic and calculative reason surpasses feelings. In the sphere of State the contradiction between family and Civil Society ("Das Adam-Smith-Problem") is solved by "rational feeling". According to Hegel State should protect citizens from alienating effect of egoistic reason of Civil Society and cultivate "family-feelings" to rational feelings which integrate citizen into "sittliche community" through reciprocal process of recognition. In this article I want to consider Hegelians Honneth's and Williams's relevance to the theory of moral development.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
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Author Affiliations: N/A