Quelle « politique de la reconnaissance » chez Rousseau? Une étude conceptuelle des Considérations sur le gouvernement de Pologne
Résumé
Most of the studies about the notion of recognition in Rousseau’s works have focused on “amour-propre”, or self-love, as an “evil” or a “social pathology” (Honneth, 1994; Carnevali, 2004; Neuhouser, 2008). This article argues that the desire for recognition plays a positive role in Rousseau’s theory of a well-ordered society, as can be seen in the Considerations on the Government of Poland. A legitimate drive for recognition can even be considered as the basis for the citizen’s virtue. The desire for recognition leads to social pathologies and the associated political abuses only when it becomes alienated, under the influence of “opinion”. Therefore, the politics of recognition advocated by Rousseau does not only aim to establish equal dignity (against aristocratic opinion), as has often been observed (Taylor, 1998) but also to separate the spheres of money and social recognition (against bourgeois opinion). The main conclusion of this article is that the politics of recognition described in the Considerations on the Government of Poland shows the internal relation, in Rousseau’s thought, between autonomy and non-alienation. This approach, it is suggested, could help widen the current philosophical studies on recognition.