La reconnaissance comme puissance spéculative du pacte social. Reflexión sur la lecture hégélienne de Hobbes

Abstract

Contemporary debates about political identity are deeply grounded in Hegelian’s paradigm of State. Hegel develops an original identity structure, build on a dynamics of recognition which allows interaction between subjective and objective liberty. The purpose of this Hegelian approach is to define a State which would be able to auto-justify and legitimize itself. This article studies the Hegelian theory of recognition, as a critical reading of Hobbes and of the philosophical insufficiency of the contractualist theories. Analyzing the concept of recognition may lead us to a better understanding of multiculturalism and political pluralism, as key concepts in today’s society.