Are We Not All Hunger For Recognition

It is an unconscious hunger, for sure. But nevertheless, this hunger or craving seems to rule our lives more than we might be willing to acknowledge.

However, pessimists and optimists alike seem to hunger for recognition. G.W.F. Hegel, that famous German Enlightenment philosopher, already took notice. He wrote aptly about ‘Herrschaft und Knechtschaft,’ best translated into ‘Lordship and Servitude.’ Others translate Hegel’s term into ‘Lordship and Bondsman,’ and the far left − adding their own innuendo − into ‘Master and Slave.’

Hegel’s difficult-to-read Phenomenology of Spirit, and within that the chapter entitled ‘Independence and Dependence of Self-consciousness: Lordship and Bondage,’ gave rise to a lot of thinking among left- and rightwing intellectuals, including A. Kojève, who influenced Hannah Arendt, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jacques Lacan.

I now must quote from an essay by Samantha Rose Hill on Kojève’s reading of Hegel as published by Aeon magazine:

“Human beings are defined by their desire for recognition, and it is a desire that can be satisfied only by another person who is one’s equal. On this reading, Kojève unfolds a multi-step process: two people meet, there is a death-match, a contest of the wills between them, and whoever is willing to risk their life triumphs over the other, they become the master, the other becomes a slave, but the master is unable to satisfy his desire, because they’re recognized only by a slave, someone who is not their equal. And through the slave’s work to satisfy the master’s needs, coupled with the recognition of the master, ultimately the slave gains power.”

That assessment is definitely not the end of conjecturing, though. While Hegel idealistically thought that the end of the history of dialectical strife would be a community of equal citizens addressing each other’s needs and wants to the satisfaction of all (kingdom of Heaven on Earth, sort of), I can see how the haves (masters, elites) in this world simply resort to recognizing each other and will continue to do so. The have-nots (commoners like me) will continue trying to outdo each other so as to break into the ranks of the haves. Sorry, Mr. Hegel. There seems to be no end to that.

Are we not all tied to one another, for better or worse? We all hunger for recognition, a truth as pointed out by psychoanalyst Eric Berne who popularized Transactional Analysis as a systematic therapy for personal growth and change. This human condition of hunger for recognition plays a major role in the formation of intimate personal relationships. Therefore, the following conjecture is one of my favorites: ‘love makes the world go ’round.’

I have tried to wrap my mind around Hegel’s and Lacan’s thinking for a long time now. They are hard to read. However, the above quote brings Hegel’s thoughts again into focus, and his dialectic provides a philosophical/psychological backbone for Transactional Analysis and a host of more socio-political conjectures.

More to come…