Paradigm shift in philosophy: Hegel’s theory of recognition

Abstract

The concept of recognition appears in philosophical thought well before Hegel, yet it is Hegel who has created a general category of recognition that remains relevant even today. The paper focuses on Hegel’s theory of recognition in The Phenomenology of the Spirit because I argue that Hegel’s concept of recognition is not only a category in the philosophy of law or social theory but rather a concept that determines a whole paradigm shift in philosophy.