HUMAN RIGHTS, RECIPROCAL RECOGNITION AND THE STATE. A DURKHEIMIAN CONTRIBUTION

The paper deals with a possible tension within Axel Honneth's theory of justice as presented in his Freedom's Right. It takes as its point of departure Georg Lohmann's objection that Honneth loses sight of the critical potential associated with positive right and tries to discuss it critically both exposing Lohmann's and Honneth's position. From the complex of problems identified thereby, the paper moves to a discussion of Emile Durkheim's theory of State, with which it helps to provide a possible contribution to the discussion between positive, individual rights and the normative framework of social freedom.