4.3. Gift and Language
At various stages of the present study, we have employed the
expressions‘social interaction’and‘gift exchange’to depict specific
conceptions of religious recognition. In section 1.4, thefirst of these
was connected with Axel Honneth and the second with Paul Ricoeur
and Marcel Hénaff. In our outline of the historical context in section
4.1, social interaction was in some respects preferred, as the status
change taking place in recognition need not be thought of in terms of
anthropology. In section 4.2, on the other hand, Griffin’s view of gift
exchange was regarded as an illuminating parallel to the phenomenon
of religious recognition.
The advantages and shortcomings of the two conceptions can be
summarized as follows. The processes of recognition are obvious
examples of social interaction. At the same time, social interaction
remains a general expression that does not have much explanatory
power. The notion could be enriched with the help of childhood
psychology or object relations theory, for instance, but such enrich-
ments may have misleading connotations. Anthropological theories
of gift transfer or gift exchange offer an elaborated view in which
different steps and stages can be identified. On the other hand,
anthropological theories contain a variety of ritualist and structuralist
elements that may not adequately depict the social reality of recog-
nition in European intellectual history. While ‘social interaction’
remains a too vague a conception,‘gift exchange’may be too specific.
A third systematic and theoretical conception is outlined in this
section. This conception attempts to unite the productive aspects of
the two other conceptions and formulate a view that is neither too
vague nor too specific, which I will call the‘language of giving’
conception. It attempts to bring some basic insights of linguistics
into contact with the present study.
Anthropological issues arising from gift exchange have been
acknowledged in various specialfields of research. The studies by
Ricoeur, Hénaff, and Hoffmann can be regarded as instances of this
reception in philosophy and theology. In linguistics, scholars have
observed that the reciprocal and reflexive structures of language
display similarities with anthropological gift exchange.^28 At this
(^28) König & Gast 2008; Evans 2011.
Recognition in Religion 221