paradigm, the content of recognition covers both the recognizer and
the recognizee. As social interaction, the acts of recognition influence
both the subject and object in various ways so that a comprehensive
account is necessary.
The third paradigm shifts the accent towards the recognizee,
assuming an initial recognizer whose subjectivity obeys the general
laws of cognition. For Spalding and Schleiermacher, such laws require
that the access to the religious object only be created through thefirst
act of existential attachment. While this requirement is post-Kantian,
it is not merely a modern invention. In some way, it is also a
restitution and rehabilitation of the old vision of the LatinRecogni-
tions, as both thefirst and the third paradigms teach that a religious
way of life cannot be reached through philosophical analysis. An
existential conversion is needed, and this conversion can adequately
be called an act of recognition, an existential knowledge of the truth,
agnitio veritatis.
4.2. The Nature of Religious Recognition
What is the specific profile ofreligiousrecognition when compared to
other discussions of recognition (section 1.2)? We have seen (section
4.1) that three basic paradigms of religious recognition appear in the
course of Western intellectual history, namely, conversion narrative,
promise of self-preservation, and existential attachment. What is the
religious or theological content of these paradigms and how does it
represent the broader social issue of recognition?
In what follows, these issues arefirst addressed by comparing our
findings to some recent work on recognition and gift exchange. Second,
some distinctive features of religious recognition are highlighted. Third,
the religious content of the paradigms defined above is described in more
detail. Fourth, the historicalfindings of the present study are compared
with Hegel, the history of toleration, and recent theological studies.
4.2.1. Social HistoryIn her detailed study on Seneca’sDe beneficiis, variously translated as
On FavoursorOn Benefits, Miriam T. Griffin investigates the social
200 Recognition and Religion