Reconciliation and Reification: Freedom's Semblance and Actuality from Hegel to Contemporary Critical Theory

The critical theory tradition has, since its inception, sought to distinguish its perspective on society by maintaining that persons have a deep-seated interest in the free development of their personality--an interest that can only be realized in and through the rational organization of society, but which is systematically stymied by existing society. And yet tradition has struggled to specify this emancipatory interest in a way that is neither excessively utopian nor accommodating to existing society. Despite the fact that Hegel's concept of reconciliation is normally thought to run aground on the latter horn of this dilemma, this book argues that reconciliation is the best available conceptualization of emancipatory interest. Todd Hedrick presents Hegel's idea of freedom as something actualized in individuals' lives through their reconciliation with how society shapes their roles, prospects, and sense of self; it presents reconciliation as less a matter of philosophical cognition, and more of inclusion in a responsive, transparent political process. Hedrick further introduces the concept of reification, which--through its development in Marx and Lukács, through Horkheimer and Adorno--substantiates an increasingly cogent critique of reconciliation as something unachievable within the framework of modern society, as social forces that shape our identities and life prospects come to appear natural, as part of the way things just are. Giving equal weight to psychoanalysis and legal theory, this work critically appraises the writings of Rawls, Honneth, and Habermas as efforts to spell out a reconciliation more democratic and inclusive than Hegel's, yet still sensitive to the reifying effects of legal systems that have become autonomous and anonymous.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Chapter 1: Reconciling individuality and sociality in Hegel's Philosophy of Right Chapter 2: Totality fractured, reconciliation deferred: from Marx to Lukács, to Horkheimer and Adorno Chapter 3: Rawls' liberal right Hegelianism Chapter 4: Actualizing freedom without reconciliation in Honneth Chapter 5: Reification and reconciliation in Habermas' theory of law and democracy Concluding remarks

About the Author :
Todd Hedrick is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Michigan State University. He is the author of Rawls and Habermas: Reason, Pluralism, and the Claims of Political Philosophy (Stanford University Press, 2010). He has published essays on critical social theory, the history of political philosophy, legal theory, and critical theory and psychoanalysis.

Review :
"This is a remarkably rich and exciting book. Focusing on the notions of reconciliation and reification, Hedrick enables us to look at the long tradition of social and political thought from Rousseau and Hegel to Rawls, Habermas and Honneth with fresh eyes. At stake is the idea that assessing the legitimacy of modern social orders depends on a viable conception of socially mediated freedom. With great sophistication and argumentative acumen, the defining challenges to our modern yet troubled form of life are made evident in ways that few or no similar studies can match. This compelling work is likely to shape future research and act as a milestone for all who are interested in the nature and potentials of contemporary, Western societies." -- Espen Hammer, Temple University "Reconciliation and Reification is a deeply original book that, with unusual elegance and clarity, uses the concept of reconciliation to construct a novel and insightful history of social thought from Hegel and Marx to contemporary Frankfurt School critical theory. In doing so, Hedrick sheds new light on the much-maligned concept of reconciliation and argues powerfully for its contemporary relevance. The book's ambitions remind one of The Theory of Communicative Action; like that text, it is a must-read for students of critical social theory." -- Frederick Neuhouser, Barnard College, Columbia University