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The article presents some key aspects of the approach called sociology of philosophy, as represented by Pierre Bourdieu, Randall Colins and others. Comparisons are made with the philosophical research programme, developed by Dieter Henrich, which goes under the name constellation research. One thing that unites the sociology of philosophy and constellation research is an interest in antagonistic constellations involving rivalry, competition and controversy. A few references to the case of Rorty are included in the discussion.

The article presents and discusses the sociology of philosophy as a theory-based empirically practised sociological subdivision that came to the fore in the 1980s. In the first part, the type of empirical material and the forms of data presentation that are available to the sociology of philosophy are discussed. In the second part, the focus is on two important attempts, those of Randall Collins and Pierre Bourdieu, to develop general sociological theories about the relationship between social being and thought. The main lesson to be drawn from them is that in normal circumstances philosophical thought cannot be reduced to socio-political conditions outside the attention space (Collins) or the philosophical field (Bourdieu). In the concluding part, we tentatively sketch a programme for a future sociology of philosophy. All in all, the sociology of philosophy is seen as an emerging new subdivision within sociology, the potential of which is far from exhausted with respect to theoretical development as well as empirical approaches.

Starting out from Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic" the article focuses on a number of authors – David Riesman, William H. Whyte, Daniel Bell and Pekka Himanen – who have used that book as a reference point in their endeavours to capture the spirit of their time. Key themes in the article are ways of life, the formation of social character and charcterological struggle.

Recognition denotes a basic medium of social integration. It provides an answer to the question: What holds a society together? Recognition is also crucial to the process of socialization and identity formation. In order to develop a personal identity an individual is dependent upon recognition from different concrete and generalized others. This review essay focuses on the debate between Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth, published recently under the title Redistribution or Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange (2003). Then the theme of recognition is discussed in relation to the sociology of work, taking as a point of departure a collection of articles published under the title Anerkennung und Arbeit (2000). Finally, attention is drawn to some recent contributions from Nordic scholars, mainly within the disciplines of social philosophy and sociology, to the theme of recognition.

In one of the great Swedish novels of the twentieth century, Doctor Glas (1905) by Hjalmar Soderberg, the following succinct reflection is noted down by the main character: We want to be loved; fai...

This article presents and discusses Axel Honneth's theory of recognition as a specific constellation, i.e. as a theoretical endeavour spanning over and interrelating positions in the fields of anthropology, social theory, and politics. As essential components in this constellation I discern an anthropology of recognition, a social philosophy of different forms of recognition, a morality of recognition, a theory of democratic ethical life as a social ideal, and a notion of political democracy as an ambitious reflexive form of social cooperation. A tentative attempt is also made to elucidate the motivational history that underlies and animates Honneth's theoretical endeavour and accounts for its specific 'spirit'.

This chapter discusses to what extent and in what sense a theory of recognition might also be aptly characterised as a theory of the middle. Such an argument presupposes that due recognition is opposed not only to overt disrespect, but also to forms of excess and deficiency. The chapter first discusses Axel Honneth's theoretical project as it has developed since the publication of The Struggle for Recognition . Then, the author of the chapter distinguishes between three levels of analysis, including an intermediate level at which the theme of recognition can and should be conceptualised as the quality of an unfolding interpersonal relationship. It is at this intermediate level of analysis that a theory of recognition takes the form of a theory of the middle. The chapter ends with a short summary and concluding remarks. Keywords: Axel Honneth; The Struggle for Recognition ; Theory of Recognition; Theory of the Middle

The concept of “style of thought” or Denkstil is today probably primarily associated with the Polish microbiologist and philosopher of science Ludwik Fleck and his writings from the 1930s. It was however used quite extensively already by Karl Mannheim in his writings on the sociology of knowledge from the 1920s. Quite interestingly, the concept of style of thought was also used twice by Rudolf Carnap in the preface to Der logische Aufbau der Welt from 1928. No doubt, the concept must have been in the air during the interwar period. In what follows I will characterize the early positivism in Nordic philosophy in terms of a certain style of thought or as a certain habitus of thought. I will single out six basic convictions about philosophy and how to do philosophy that make up a more or less common ground and starting point for the early philosophical positivists in the Nordic countries. However, to begin with I will motivate why I prefer to use the designation “the positive spirit” rather than “positivism”. In the latter part of the article I will then dwell on some more specifi c topics and fi gures relating to the positive spirit or positivism before Logical positivism in Nordic philosophy. (Less)