Poverty of Our Freedom

Axel Honneth is Jack C. Weinstein Professor for the Humanities in the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University.

"This collection of superbly translated essays demonstrates once again that Axel Honneth is not only an academic philosopher of the first rank but also a public intellectual of international significance. The astounding range of essays included here – on topics from the contradictions in our understanding of childhood to the history of European solidarity to the relation between education and democracy – will be of supreme interest to philosophers and non-philosophers alike who have some inkling of the poverty of both our dominant conceptions of freedom and of the social institutions that are grounded in them."—Frederick Neuhouser, Barnard College, Columbia University"These powerful and incisive essays are a major contribution to the contemporary struggle against fetishized conceptions of individual freedom. Their relevance in a world trying desperately to escape the impasse of neoliberalism is clear."—Raymond Geuss, Professor (Emeritus), University of Cambridge"Honneth's writing is excellent, and he presents conceptually dense topics in an accessible manner."—Filozofia"This collection stands as a powerful demonstration of Honneth's lasting scholarly legacy, offering invaluable insights into the enduring relevance of critical theory in navigating the complexities of modern society."—Contemporary Political Theory

• AcknowledgementsPrefacePart I: Forms of Social Freedom1. The Depths of RecognitionThe legacy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau2. On the Poverty of Our FreedomRelevance and limits of the Hegelian ethical system3. The Normativity of Ethical Life4. Hegel and MarxA reassessment after one century5. Economy or Society?The greatness and limits of Marx’s theory of capitalism6. Three, Not Two Concepts of LibertyA proposal to enlarge our moral self-understandingPart II: Deformations of Social Freedom7. The Diseases of SocietyApproaching a nearly impossible concept8. Education and the Democratic Public SphereA neglected chapter of political philosophy9. Democracy and the Division of LabourA blind spot in political philosophy10. ChildhoodInconsistencies in our liberal imaginationPart III. Sources of Social Freedom11. Denaturalizations of the LifeworldOn the threefold use of the humanities12. Is There an Emancipatory Interest?An attempt to answer critical theory's most fundamental question13. A History of Moral Self-CorrectionTracing European solidarityNotesIndex