Recognition and Freedom in Axel Honneth's Critical Theory of Education

Abstract

Honneth, reconnecting education and democracy through the theory of recognition, in dialogue with Kant, Hegel, and Dewey, advocates for an emancipatory education that goes beyond technical transmission, promoting moral, cultural, and political formation. Human development requires mutual recognition in three spheres – love, law, and social esteem – which sustain self-confidence, self-respect, and autonomy. Honneth distinguishes autonomy from freedom, emphasising the importance of social freedom, built through dialogue and cooperation. He criticises the current emphasis on employability and competitiveness, which distorts the democratic character of education, and points to challenges such as digitalisation, multiculturalism and the pandemic, which widen inequalities, reinforcing the urgency of reviving the democratic tradition for the renewal of democracies.