L’estime de soi : un cas particulier d’estime sociale ?

Axel Honneth’s discussion of the relation between self esteem and social esteem represents an original feature of his intersubjective theory of recognition. From Honneth’s point of view, self-esteem is conceived as the reflection of social esteem at the individual level. In this paper, I discuss this conception, by raising the question: is self-esteem a particular instance of social esteem? I thus aim at discussing two major problems raised by Honneth’s theory. Firstly, his definition of self-esteem is too vague. Secondly, his conception does not explain how the relation between self-esteem and social esteem is articulated. In order to deal with these problems, I will lean on Morris Rosenberg’s conception of self-esteem and on a discussion of cases of social deviance and discrimination. I thus aim at showing both the interdependence between social esteem and self-esteem, and the relative autonomy of self esteem in relation to social esteem. Far from reintroducing a dichotomy between the individual and the social dimensions, this antireductionist approach may represent a possible starting point for a fully intersubjective conception of the relation between social esteem and self-esteem.