This paper aims to provide an overview of relations between Luc Boltanski, Pierre Bourdieu, and Axel Honneth by examining Boltanski's concept of original position.
The concept is characterized by radical uncertainty about the whatness of what is, what matters, and what has value, accompanied by the unease the uncertainty creates. According to his thought experiment, the only solution of the question of what is is to delegate the task of saying the whatness of what is to a bodiless being, that is, an institution.
Examining the concept of original position and the trajectory where it has been presented helps us to differentiate Boltanski from Bourdieu and Honneth. From Boltanski's perspective, Bourdieu's sociology is characterized by the emphasis, on the one hand, on power relations and conflict of interests, and, on the other hand, on disposition which tends to disregard the uncertainty in social life. Honneth's theory of 'struggle for recognition' consists of both anti-utilitarianism unlike Bourdieu's theory and intersubjectivity. In contrast to them, Boltanski's sociology, which begins with the above-mentioned uncertainty, is composed of, on the one hand, not starting with conflict of interests like Honneth, and, on the other hand, atomism concerning the meaning.
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