Die Grenzen der persönlichen Beziehungen. Karl Löwiths Phänomenologie des Individuums als Mitmensch

This article reconstructs the fundamental theses of Karl Löwith's first book, Das Individuum in der Rolle des Mitmenschen. The aim of this reconstruction is to retrace how Löwith identifies the genesis of the moral notion of respect in personal relationships, as a limit to their tendency to absolutize intimate relationships and block the free, dialogic articulation of their members' needs and interests. The article revisits Löwith's intersubjective foundation of the morality of respect to propose a comparison with Axel Honneth's theory of recognition, demonstrating how the latter can be corrected and integrated precisely by starting from Löwith's position.