Three Models of Aesthetic Recognition

In this chapter, I argue that the disregard for the aesthetic in the literature on recognition is problematic and shed light on how the aesthetic and recognition interact. I make the original claim that aesthetic recognition denotes a subspecies of recognition. I also show that this model of aesthetic recognition has significant advantages over two alternative models. The first alternative model, proposed by Jacques Rancière, identifies the aesthetic with recognition. However, one drawback of his conceptualization consists in the fact that it cannot underpin a differentiated social critique. The second alternative model, suggested by Jason Miller, maintains that the aesthetic conditions the recognition of cultural identities. I highlight several problems with Miller’s approach. For instance, he fails to fully grasp the differences between Axel Honneth’s and Charles Taylor’s understandings of recognition, and consequently, he does not appreciate Honneth’s reasons for rejecting the idea of cultural recognition. Further, by focusing on cultural identities, he obscures the wider significance of his core insight. I therefore develop a revised version of his model, which maintains that the aesthetic conditions all subspecies of recognition. Finally, I show that this revised model complements my own, according to which aesthetic recognition denotes a subspecies of recognition.