downward/equal recognition:
R0: B seeks recognition from A
R1D/E: A (as lord, as an equal) grants recognition to B (as an equal)
R2: B recognizes A
upward recognition:
R0F: B has a favourable attitude towards potential A’s
R1U: A recognizes B (as A’s lord)
R2: B recognizes A (as B’s servant)The label‘downward/equal’(D/E) points to a lasting connection in
the sense that while the process of recognition has‘downward’fea-
tures, its end result has‘equal’features, as the case of Kosovo shows.
We should nevertheless immediately add a third conception, that of
strictly equalrecognition to this taxonomy. In a strictly equal recog-
nition, both parties seek one another’s recognition and grant it to
each other without the aspect of unequal powers. Contemporary
Western ideals of love often exemplify this conception.
Let us also add astrictly downwardconception, though it may not be
a common phenomenon, as lords normally recognize their servants by
means of the‘upward recognition’conception rather than by starting
the process by granting strictly downward recognition. In religious
recognition, however, God can be conceived to grant a strictly down-
ward recognition (R1D) to which people respond (R2). In such case,
there may not be any preceding human act of R0. We may note,
however, that God’s downward act can also be conceived in terms of
RD/E. In other words, God recognizes people and at the same time
upgrades them: perhaps not to become God’s equals, but nevertheless
to become more than mere servants; for instance, family members.
Earlier studies have paid much attention to the issue that all acts of
recognition are qualified in that we always recognize others‘as’
somebody or something. Bedorf (cf. 1.2) offers an extreme version
of this in claiming that the‘as’qualification inevitably contains a
misrecognition. I do not adopt Bedorf’s position as such but assume
nevertheless that acts of recognition are always‘content-determined’
in some way. What we called the cognitive component of the concept
of recognition above comes close to saying the same thing: we are not
giving‘blunt’recognitions but only content-determined ones.
To preserve simplicity and robustness, I introduce a content-
determining part of recognition, Rdef, as follows:‘Rdef determines
Introduction 37