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According to Honneth's theory, modern societies instantiate a "recognition order' that serves the purposes of social reproduction and social legitimation. The recognition order defines the society, that is, it tells us what kind of society it is. The recognition order also justifies the basic social practices and institutions to the members of the society. The general outline of the recognition order in modern societies, as sketched by Honneth, is well known (Honneth 1995). Very briefly it involves a differentiation of recognition into distinct attitudes of love, respect, and esteem; each of which has a differentiated social basis and role in the maintenance of "practical self-relations'. The family and friendships provide the main context in which recognition in the form of love is given and received, which is vital for the maintenance of basic self-confidence or self-trust (ibid., p. 107). The recognition that occurs through attitudes of respect is primarily instantiated through legal rights that are "depersonalised symbols of social respect' and the experience of having legal recognition allows us to see our own actions as the universally respected expression of our own autonomy (ibid., p. 118). Recognition in the form of esteem, by contrast, is given and received on the basis of what one makes of this capacity for autonomy. Self-esteem depends on the social "worth' of individuals as "measured by the degree to which they appear to be in a position to contribute to the realization of societal goals' (ibid., p. 123). In modern societies, the social goals are connected to the "seemingly neutral idea of "achievement"', though in practice the criteria of achievement, and the extent to which they are satisfied, are a matter of ongoing contestation (ibid., p. 126).

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