In this article, I argue that Hegel’s concept of recognition and
Levinas’ concept of responsibility complement each other and lead to the
idea of an asymmetrical reciprocity in which the origin of our social
relations is not mutual equality, but rather mutual inequality. I will unfold
this argument in three steps. I will first work out a fundamental
asymmetry of recognition in Hegel by means of the figure of the
bondsman before elucidating in a second step the asymmetry of
responsibility in Levinas by means of the figure of the hostage. In the last
and third step, I will correlate both asymmetries and show how far the
asymmetry of recognition and the asymmetry of responsibility constantly
develop from and transition into one another in our social relationships