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Recognition, Attachment, and the Social Bases of Self‐Worth
Author(s) -
Ferkany Matt
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the southern journal of philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.281
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 2041-6962
pISSN - 0038-4283
DOI - 10.1111/j.2041-6962.2009.tb00094.x
Subject(s) - attachment theory , social psychology , sociology , position (finance) , psychology , epistemology , law and economics , economics , philosophy , finance
Recognition theorists have often sought to justify calls for the recognition of identities or cultures on grounds that a culturally egalitarian societal environment is a crucial social basis of a sense of self‐worth. In doing so they have often drawn on noncognitivist social‐psychological theorizing. This paper argues that this theorizing does not support the recognition theorist's position. It is argued that attachment theory together with recent empirical evidence support a more attachment‐ focused and Rawlsian vision of self‐worth's social bases according to which secure parent‐child attachment, associational ties, equal basic rights and liberties, and economic and educational opportunities are what really matter.