Recognition and Virtualization in Frankfurt School

Ahmad Al Ahmad; Dua’a Nassar; Suzan Al Dababsa; Theodora Issa; Tomayess Issa

doi:10.35516/Hum.2025.8855

Authors

Ahmad Al Ahmad Philosophy Dep., Art school, The University of Jordan, Jordan, Amman https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7919-7509
Dua’a Nassar Philosophy Dep., Art school, The University of Jordan, Jordan, Amman https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5293-6789
Suzan Al Dababsa Philosophy Dep., Art school, The University of Jordan, Jordan, Amman https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5579-0480
Theodora Issa The University of Western Australia, Theodora https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6593-7289
Tomayess Issa Curtin University, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3460-4200

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/Hum.2025.8855

Keywords:

Recognition, critical theory, sphere, virtualization, communication, Frankfurt school

Abstract

Objectives: This research examines the concept of recognition according to the Frankfurt School of philosophy, focusing on first-generation thinkers like Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, and Herbert Marcuse. It explores the origins, significance, and development of the concept, linking it to postmodern philosophy and comparative studies with the Frankfurt School. The analysis also includes Jürgen Habermas and Axel Honneth’s views on recognition in the virtual world.

Method: The paper follows an analytical approach by examining Habermas and Honneth’s perspectives on recognition in the virtual realm, using secondary data and literature reviews.

Results: The study highlights the importance of recognition in virtual spaces, demonstrating that these environments enable participation and expression, expanding the scope of recognition within virtual interactions. The virtual world offers individuals greater opportunities for self-expression and identity formation.

Conclusions: The study emphasizes the role of society as a broad communicative environment, in line with Frankfurt School philosophers. It also underscores that the virtual space functions as a human environment that empowers individuals, enhancing their participation. Using technology for decision-making and expression broadens the application of recognition to include the virtual realm.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abu Al Noor, H. (2012). Jürgen Habermas ethics and communication. Dar Al-Tanweer.

Adorno, T. W., & Horkheimer, M. (1972). The culture industry.

Afaya, M. (1998). Modernity and communication in contemporary critical philosophy: Habermas's model (Vol. 2). East African Publishers.

Al-Messiri, A. (2003). Materialist philosophy and the deconstruction of human (2nd ed.). Dar Alfeker.

Am Busch, H.-C. S., & Zurn, C. F. (2010). The philosophy of recognition: Historical and contemporary perspectives. Rowman & Littlefield.

Andersen, W. (2015). Love, rights, and solidarity: Sports’ potential for recognition. Physical Culture and Sport: Studies and Research, 68(1), 23–33.

Anissa, S. (2017). The ethics of dialogue in Western philosophy: Jürgen Habermas as a model. Dr. Moulay Taher Saida University.

Bell, E., Bryman, A., & Harley, B. (2022). Business research methods. Oxford University Press.

Bencin, R. (2021). Introduction: The world according to contemporary philosophy. ZRC Publishing, 42, 5–13. Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Blau, A. (2022). Habermas on rationality: Means, ends, and communication. European Journal of Political Theory, 21(2), 321–344.

Bomunere, K. (2010). The critical theory of the Frankfurt School from Max Horkheimer to Axel Honneth (Vol. 1). Arab Scientific Publishers.

Burns, R. P. (2008). Business research methods and statistics using SPSS.

Castells, M., & Cardoso, G. (2006). The network society: From knowledge to policy. Johns Hopkins Center for Transatlantic Relations.

Chitty, A. (2013). Recognition and property in Hegel and the early Marx. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 16, 685–697.

Corradetti, C. (2023). The Frankfurt School and critical theory. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP). Retrieved February 12, 2023, from https://iep.utm.edu/critical-theory-frankfurt-school/

Dahms, H. F. (2011). Theodor W. Adorno. In The Wiley‐Blackwell companion to major social theorists (Vol. 1, pp. 559–581). Wiley-Blackwell.

Delanty, G., & Harris, N. (2021). Critical theory and the question of technology: The Frankfurt School revisited. Thesis Eleven, 166(1), 88–108.

Deranty, J.-P. (2013). Marx, Honneth, and the tasks of a contemporary critical theory. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 16, 745–758.

Dreyfus, H. L. (1997). Heidegger on gaining a free relation to technology. Technology and Values, 4, 1–54.

Dutton, W. H. (2011). Freedom of connection, freedom of expression: The changing legal and regulatory ecology shaping the Internet. UNESCO.

Frazer, E. (1999). The problems of communitarian politics: Unity and conflict. OUP Oxford.

Gordon, P. E., Hammer, E., & Honneth, A. (2019). The Routledge companion to the Frankfurt School. Routledge.

Greener, S. (2008). Business research methods. BookBoon.

Habermas, J. (2003). Habermas Science and technology as ideology. AlJamal Publications.

Hegel, G. W. F. (2010). Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: The science of logic. Cambridge University Press.

Hegel. (2006). Phenomenology of the soul (N. Al-Monly, Trans.). Arab Organization for Translation.

Held, D. (1980). Introduction to critical theory: Horkheimer to Habermas (Vol. 261). University of California Press.

Honneth, A. (1996). Patterns of intersubjective recognition: Love, rights, and solidarity. The Struggle for Recognition: The Moral Grammar of Social Conflicts, 92–130.

Honneth, A. (2014). Freedom's right: The social foundations of democratic life. Columbia University Press.

Honneth, A. (2015). The struggle for recognition: The moral grammar of social conflicts (G. Katoura, Trans.). Eastern Library.

Ivković, M. (2016). The Habermasian foundations and aims of Axel Honneth's theory of recognition. Ideias, 7(2), 99–122.

Jansson, A. (2015). Interveillance: A new culture of recognition and mediatization. Media and Communication, 3(3), 81–90.

Jütten, T. (2018). The theory of recognition in the Frankfurt School. In The Routledge companion to the Frankfurt School (pp. 82–94). Routledge.

Kaabouch, A. (2020). The centrality of the concept of recognition in the formation of self-identity according to Axel Honneth. Mominoun. Retrieved from

https://www.mominoun.com/articles/%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A9

Kant, I. (2015). The critique of pure reason (M. Wahba, Trans.). National Development Center.

Krijnen, C. (2013). Recognition-German Idealism as an Ongoing Challenge (Vol. 10). Brill.

Kurzweil, R. (2014). Letters from Ray: Living in the virtual worlds as an avatar. Retrieved from https://www.thekurzweillibrary.com/ask-ray-living-in-virtual-worlds-as-an-avatar

Landmann, M. (2011). The Frankfurt School: The critical theories of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno. Transaction Publishers.

Lê, J. K., & Schmid, T. (2022). The practice of innovating research methods. Organizational Research Methods, 25(2), 308–336.

Mosaddegh, H. (2005). Jürgen Habermas and the Frankfurt School. Centre Culturel Arabe.

Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., & Brennan, S. E. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372.

Piran, P. (1977). Marcuse and the problem of instrumental rationality. Mid-American Review of Sociology, 19–28.

Plato. (2017). Plato's Republic (H. Kabbaz, Trans.). Hinduway Publishing Corporation.

Pyati, A. K. (2006). Critical theory and information studies: A Marcusean infusion. Policy Futures in Education, 4(1), 83–89.

Rahomah, A. (2008). Automated sociology (an approach to Arab sociology and computer-mediated communication). National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature, 22–23.

Renault, E. (2011). The theory of recognition and critique of institutions. In Axel Honneth: Critical Essays (pp. 207–231). Brill.

Renault, E. (2013). Three Marxian approaches to recognition. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 16(4), 699–711.

Slater, P. (1977). Origin and significance of the Frankfurt School: A Marxist perspective. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 94–118.

Van der Post, R., & BA, A. (2017). Worlds Apart: Marx, Marcuse and Creative Engagement.

Walsh, P. (2008). Herbert Marcuse and contemporary social theory: Beyond the consumer society. In No Social Science without Critical Theory (pp. 235–260). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Watson, R. (2016). Future Minds: How the Digital Age is Changing Our Minds (Vol. 1). National Translation Center.

Young, R. M. (2006). Marxism and the history of science. In Companion to the History of Modern Science (pp. 77–86). Routledge.