Recognition Weekend with Axel Honneth

Professor Axel Honneth (University of Frankfurt / Columbia University) gave the 12th Annual Collegium Lecture at the University of Helsinki's main building on Friday the 23rd of May. In conjuction with the 2014 Collegium Lecture, a two-day Workshop on Pathologies of Recognition was organized by the research project Pathologies of Recognition (Academy of Finland), Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Study, and The School of Social Sciences and Humanities (University of Tampere).

Axel Honneth giving his Collegium Lecture

My personal research and reading focuses at the moment very much on Honneth as well as on Arto Laitinen and Heikki Ikäheimo, who have contributed to explicating and further developing the Honnethian concept(s) of recognition. Therefore, it was very nice indeed to be able to meet all three at once in Helsinki.

Arto Laitinen, Axel Honneth, and Heikki Ikäheimo

Our own CoE Reason and Religious Recognition was represented in the workshop programme by our Director Risto Saarinen, who discussed interesting cases of recognition in the pre-Hegelian sources of Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), and John Calvin (1509-1564).

Saarinen giving his talk at the workshop

All in all, from a research point of view, the two days were highly interesting, very educating, and intellectually stimulating. They also provided a good opportunity to make new contacts with people working on themes related with recognition. Below are some more photos from "the recognition weekend".

Federica Gregoratto, who spoke on Pathologies of Love

Cillian McBride, who recently published his book on recognition

Nora Hämäläinen speaking on Emotional Capitalism

and the Epistemology of Suspicion

Axel Honneth and Sami Pihlström, who chaired the Collegium Lecture

Sari Roman-Lagerspetz with Honneth in the audience

CoE Ladies Anna-Liisa Tolonen and Maijastina Kahlos

ouside the main building after Honneth's lecture

The Honneth Reception at the Collegium Common Room