Jütten, Timo (2015) Is the Market a Sphere of Social Freedom? Critical Horizons, 16 (2). pp. 187-203. DOI https://doi.org/10.1179/1440991715Z.00000000047
Jütten, Timo (2015) Is the Market a Sphere of Social Freedom? Critical Horizons, 16 (2). pp. 187-203. DOI https://doi.org/10.1179/1440991715Z.00000000047
Jütten, Timo (2015) Is the Market a Sphere of Social Freedom? Critical Horizons, 16 (2). pp. 187-203. DOI https://doi.org/10.1179/1440991715Z.00000000047
Abstract
In this paper I examine Axel Honneth's normative reconstruction of the market as a sphere of social freedom in his 2014 book, Freedom's Right. Honneth's position is complex: on the one hand, he acknowledges that modern capitalist societies do not realize social freedom; on the other hand, he insists that the promise of social freedom is implicit in the market sphere. In fact, the latter explains why modern subjects have seen capitalism as legitimate. I will reconstruct Honneth's conception of social freedom and investigate how it is realized in the sphere in which Honneth sees it most successfully at work, the sphere of interpersonal relations. I then move on to the sphere of the market economy and discuss two related problems of this view that stem from his interpretation of Hegel. Next, I consider Honneth's method of “normative reconstruction” and his reconstructions of the sphere of consumption and, finally, the labor market. My conclusion will be that market institutions cannot realize social freedom, and that this insight should orient the philosophical direction of critical social theory.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Axel Honneth, critical social theory, markets, capitalism, freedom, G.W.F. Hegel |
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) |
Divisions: | Faculty of Arts and Humanities Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies, School of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 19 Nov 2014 11:04 |
Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 17:23 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/11745 |
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