The History of Why

Concept

2 readings

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Recognition

Concept · 2 readings

Recognition concerns whose standing and judgment others acknowledge. The conquest debate and Hegel’s account of mutual recognition raise related questions through distinct arguments.

All readings

2 readings · Title A–Z

  • Guided course · Module 10 · Lesson 57

    Can freedom have a history?

    Hegel argues that freedom needs recognition and shared institutions, and that history advances toward freedom. The lesson examines those arguments and confronts the exclusions in his account of history.

  • Guided course · Module 8 · Lesson 46

    Who is recognized as fully human?

    At Valladolid, Sepúlveda’s justifications for conquest met Las Casas’s replies. Writing later in Peru, Guaman Poma challenges the terms of such debates by asking who may instruct a colonial ruler.