The Two Faces of the Hegelian Concept of Freedom and the Mediation of the Category of Recognition

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the theoretical status of the hegelian concept of freedom as “being with oneself in one’s other”, as well as the mediation of the category of recognition in the relationship between the objective and subjective face that this concept portrays. In this perspective, no legitimate relations of domination and coercion are rejected on behalf of a intersubjective concept of freedom. The aim is also to highlight the important elements in the hegelian philosophy to understand the meaning of freedom in the constitution of a social theory, which can be expressed in its approximation to the republicanism, in contemporary discussion of political and moral philosophy.