conception can be expressed with the reflexive linguistic resources of
Latin (se recognoscere). While it is related to the broader classical issue
of knowing oneself, it is a somewhat different topic regarding the
change in one’s self-understanding.
Proceeding towards more demanding conceptions of recognition,
we may define the heuristic idea ofidentity constitution. Like the
previous one, this conception means a change in self-understanding,
but this change takes place as a result of interpersonal exchange. This
exchange is supposed to produce amassive change either in the
recognizer or the recognizee. In religious texts, the event of conver-
sion exemplifies such massive change in the recognizer. If the divine
act of justification of the sinner is understood in terms of recognition,
we may speak of the identity constitution of the recognizee in
justification.
The last variant in our continuum is that ofmediated recognition,
in which the two parties cannot recognize one another but they are
able to recognize a third party that mediates between them. Examples
of this kind include the work of a judge in an arbitration court or the
rules of a game between two players. When two religious communi-
ties cannot acknowledge each other but both can recognize Jesus
Christ, we may analyse this case in terms of mediated recognition.
In sum, I have drafted the following conceptions of recognition,
starting from the most modest and proceeding towards the most
demanding:
- adequate regard (need not be interpersonal)
- four interpersonal social interaction (gift transfer) variants:
1 upward recognition
2 strictly downward recognition
3 downward/equal recognition
4 strictly equal recognition - recognizing oneself
- identity constitution (massive cognitive change, conversion)
- mediated recognition.
At this point, these conceptions are heuristic tools. Their usefulness
needs to be tested within the historical material. The conceptions do
not express historical succession or development.
The conceptions drafted above can also be analysed in terms of
differentiated interaction. It is often possible to see the various moves
that the recognizer and the recognizee make when they perform the
Introduction 33