have already seen how Taylor and Honneth understand the modern
idea of recognition as emerging with Hegel, replacing the old ideas of
honour and status. For Fraser, these two issues are not of primary
importance.
Concerning the second question, Taylor uses the examples of Islam
and Christianity to explain the need for a politics of difference. In his
other works, Taylor employs a rich variety of religious sources.^37
While he considers religion to be an important factor in shaping
identities, religious issues do not become an integral part of his theory
of recognition. Honneth leaves religious matters largely undiscussed,
focusing instead on secular political issues. In the last chapter ofThe
IinWe, he speaks of‘secular forms of consolation’in facing death. He
compares Winnicott’s‘transitional objects’with spiritual life experi-
ences and proposes that‘to slip back into a stage of our own existence
at which it still helped to wish’may offer consolation. Such‘rationally
tolerated metaphysics’needs, however, to be kept separate from the
ontological primitivizations of religion.^38 Honneth thus aims to be an
enlightened naturalist.
Recent French discussion on recognition has focused on two
books, The Price of Truth (orig. 2002) by Marcel Hénaff, and
The Course of Recognition(orig. 2004) by Paul Ricoeur. Although
Hénaff’s book appearedfirst, its reception has been largely shaped by
Ricoeur’s study, which gives Hénaff a prominent place in its conclu-
sions. This is remarkable because Hénaff does not treat recognition
extensively. At the same time, Hénaff’s book is significant in its own
right because it connects the anthropological discussion on gift
exchange with the phenomenon of recognition. We willfirst outline
Hénaff’s argument from his own perspective. Ricoeur’s position and
the role that he ascribes to Hénaff are then treated as distinct issues.
Hénaff continues the French anthropological discussion about
Marcel Mauss’s studyThe Gift,^39 focusing on Mauss’s insight that
the giver of the gift also gives something of him- or herself. This is
called the spirit (hau) of the gift and it keeps the process of gift
exchange in continuous motion. Hénaff proposes that this kind of
gift exchange relates essentially to the giving and receiving of recog-
nition. When A gives a gift to B, A also recognizes B. It is important
that the material token of the gift is transferred, since in this event
(^37) Taylor 1995, 249. Cf. Taylor 1989 and 2007. (^38) Honneth 2012, 232–7.
(^39) Mauss 1990 (orig. French 1925).
12 Recognition and Religion