118 | Axel Honneth and the Ideal of Social Freedom Artwork

What's Left of Philosophy

In What’s Left of Philosophy Gil Morejón (@gdmorejon), Lillian Cicerchia (@lilcicerch), Owen Glyn-Williams (@oglynwil), and William Paris (@williammparis) discuss philosophy’s radical histories and contemporary political theory. Philosophy isn't dead, but what's left? Support us at patreon.com/leftofphilosophy

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What's Left of Philosophy

118 | Axel Honneth and the Ideal of Social Freedom

July 24, 2025 • Lillian Cicerchia, Owen Glyn-Williams, Gil Morejón, and William Paris • Season 1 • Episode 118

In this episode we discuss Axel Honneth’s Freedom’s Right: The Social Foundations of Democratic Life. As one of the most prominent representatives of the so-called ‘3rd generation’ of Frankfurt School critical theory, we ask whether Honneth’s notions of ‘normative reconstruction’ and ‘social freedom’ build constructively upon the legacies of critical theory or depart from them in a more liberal direction. Lillian reminds us that he has good answers to some of our more acerbic criticisms of his work, but we ultimately wonder about what critical theory has lost in its most recent iteration—one that, we think it’s clear, is far less antagonistic to capitalist society than its predecessors.

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References:

Axel Honneth, Freedom’s Right: The Social Foundations of Democratic Life, trans. Joseph Ganahl (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014).

Music:

"Sorriso" by Monument Music | https://youtu.be/YR4AD4Qim3w?si=UNthWq28mZf9Wbcv

“Vintage Memories” by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com

“My Space” by Overu |https://get.slip.stream/KqmvAN