Critical Theory of Axel Honneth

Danielle Petherbridge is an Irish Research Council research fellow in the school of philosophy at University College Dublin. She is editor of Axel Honneth: Critical Essays, (2011), co-editor of Recognition, Work, Politics: New Direction in French Critical Theory, (2007); Contemporary Perspectives in Critical and Social Philosophy, (2004); and coordinating editor of the journal Critical Horizons: A Journal of Philosophy and Social Theory.

• IntroductionPart 1: Honneth’s Reconstruction of Critical TheoryChapter 1: The Intersubjective Grounds of Critique: From Mutual Understanding to Mutual RecognitionChapter 2: Reading Marx after habermasPart 2: Unfinished Studies on a Theory of PowerChapter 3: The Social as a Field of Struggle: Foucault’s Action-Theoretic View Chapter 4: Regimes of Discipline: Foucault’s Domination-Theoretic ViewChapter 5: Intersubjectivity in the Condition of Power: Re-reading FoucaultPart 3: Honneth’s Intersubjectivist Reading of HegelChapter 6: From the Contingency of Struggle to the Primacy of RecognitionChapter 7: The Normative Ground of Conflict and SocialityPart 4: Intersubjective Dependency and Socialization: Mead and WinnicottChapter 8: Practical Intersubjectivity and Sociality in MeadChapter 9: Intersubjectivity or Primary Affectivity? Honneth’s Reading of WinnicottPart 5: Anthropology, Recognition & CritiqueChapter 10: A Critical Theory of Recognition: Anthropological, Historical or Ontol

Danielle Petherbridge's book is an expansive and insightful reconstruction of Axel Honneth's critical social theory. It is alert to the dialectical shifts in his conception as he responds to new conversation partners, and it highlights fundamental issues that explain the trajectory of his work. Petherbridge has made a valuable contribution to the literature on contemporary Critical Theory.