J.V. Snellman on Rights and Recognition

Abstract

<p>J. V. Snellman (1806-1881), was the un-official intellectual leader and political strategist of the 19^th century Finnish national movement. In 1863, he was nominated to the Senate, the highest executive body of the Grand Duchy of Finland. As a Senator, he became the prime mover behind many important projects – for example, the establishment of the national Finnish currency and the reform of the educational system – which created the necessary preconditions for the independence of Finland in the following century. He was also a professional philosopher. Especially in his early works, he was a rather orthodox Hegelian; his textbook <i>Rättslära</i> was written as an introduction to Hegel’s theory of law. We show that in his - otherwise not very original - work Snellman consistently used the Hegelian notion of <i>recognition</i> (<i>Anerkennung</i>) as the key concept. In this, his interpretation is in accordance with the most recent Hegel-scholarship.</p>