Current Perspectives of critical theory in Mexico and Germany

Abstract

In this essay we compare Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition to Bolívar Echeverría’s theory of the four historical ethe of capitalist modernity. The theory of recognition may be considered, since its introduction by G. W. F. Hegel, as a clear expression, and at the same time as a description, of that ethos that Echeverría calls “realistic ethos” (and —at least in Hegel— it is also somewhat related with the one called by Echeverría as “classical ethos” and “romantic ethos”). This theory’s shortcoming lies in the fact that it naively starts from the idea that within the social formation currently existing, that is, the bourgeoisie /capitalist one, it is possible to achieve recognition of all the members of society, including minorities and those groups that are perceived and treated as minorities, even if they objectively are not. Echeverría’s theory of the four historical ethe of modernity (which analyzes, in addition to those already mentioned the baroque ethos) tries to overcome this limitation, upon considering modern forms of coexistence, developed outside Europe and the US.