In the early part of his philosophical career, Paul Ricoeur worked out a general theory of symbols which he illustrated with the symbols of evil. He subsequently explained this theory in several essays (his final major statement on symbols can be found in Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning [1976]. After 1976, he did not return to the subject again). Ricoeur's principle work on symbols, which appears in The Symbolism of Evil (1960), was the result of a larger work on the will, in which he explained his philosophy of the voluntary and the involuntary, fallibility, and, finally, fault, expressed "symbolically." Ricoeur's interest in the will and in fault is philosophical (rather than theological). This paper presents a summary of the larger issues raised by the critics about Ricoeur's theory of symbols and work on the symbols of evil, then closely analyzes the symbols defilement, sin, and guilt (the symbols of evil in The Symbolism of Evil), questioning their structures, their contents, and ultimately their validity and relevance to philosophy, and claiming that, by elaborating on the rather simple metaphors of stain, errancy, and burden, Ricoeur creates a new symbolism of fault rather than elucidates an existing one. / Graduation date: 2002

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago Divinity School, March 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago Divinity School, March 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thèse en cotutelle entre l'Université Laval, Québec, Canada et l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris, France / Les notions de requête, d'appel et d'exigence, ainsi qu'un ensemble de notions connexes (demande, injonction, sollicitation, revendication), ont acquis dans la philosophie continentale contemporaine un statut fondamental, tant au niveau ontologique (Heidegger, Marion, Chrétien) qu'éthique (Levinas, Waldenfels, Honneth, Taylor, Fraser). À la faveur d'une analyse des usages que fait Paul Ricœur de ces notions, qui forment ce que nous appelons le réseau notionnel de la requête, nous mettons au jour la fonction essentielle qu'occupe le motif de la requête dans son anthropologie philosophique. La portée et les limites de la conception ricœurienne de l'appel et de la réponse, que nous reconstruisons à la faveur de l'étude du traitement qu'il réserve aux problèmes de la motivation, de la fragilité affective, du bonheur et, enfin, du rapport à autrui, peuvent ainsi être déterminées. La dialectique de l'appel et de la réponse se révèle particulièrement significative dans la théorie ricœurienne de la volonté et de l'affectivité - éléments fondamentaux de son anthropologie -, sa conception de la vie religieuse, ainsi que ses réflexions éthiques sur la justice, les relations de soin, le pardon et la reconnaissance. Nous procédons à la critique et à l'enrichissement de ce motif en vue du développement de ce que nous appelons la dialectique de la requête (requérir, être interpellé, répondre), dont la vocation épistémologique est à la fois ontologique, anthropologique et éthique. À cette fin, nous mobilisons, outre la littérature portant sur l'œuvre de Ricœur ou inspirée par elle (Abel, Michel, Porée, etc.), les travaux de penseurs tels que Marcel, Levinas et Waldenfels sur les phénomènes de l'appel, de l'injonction ou de la requête (Anspruch), ainsi que des études philosophiques portant sur des phénomènes tels que le care, la justice, l'amour, le pardon ou la reconnaissance (Boltanski, Honneth, Jankélévtich, etc.). Nous mettons également à profit des enquêtes sociologiques (Elias, Saglio-Yatzimirsky, Durand). Nous concluons que, dès lors qu'elle postule l'interdépendance des personnes humaines, une anthropologie philosophique telle que l'anthropologie ricœurienne de l'homme agissant et souffrant doit reconnaître aux gestes de la requête et de la réponse un rôle crucial dans l'existence humaine. / The notions of call, demand, and requisition, as well as a set of related notions (injunction, commandment, solicitation, claim), have acquired a fundamental status in contemporary continental philosophy, both at the ontological (Heidegger, Marion, Chrétien) and ethical (Levinas, Waldenfels, Honneth, Taylor, Fraser) levels. Through an analysis of Paul Ricœur's uses of these notions, which constitute what we call the notional network of demand, we show that the pattern of demand is crucial for is hermeneutical phenomenology. The scope and limits of Ricœur's conception of call and response, which we reconstruct through the study of his treatment of the problems of motivation, affective fragility, happiness and, finally, the relationship to others, can thus be determined. The dialectic of call and response is particularly significant in Ricœur's theory of will and affectivity -- fundamental elements of his anthropology --, his conception of religious life, as well as his ethical reflections on justice, care, forgiveness, and recognition. We proceed to a critique and enrichment this pattern in view of the development of what we call the dialectic of demand (to demand, to be questioned, to answer), whose epistemological vocation is at once ontological, anthropological, and ethical. To this end, we mobilize, in addition to the literature on Ricœur's work, or inspired by it (Abel, Michel, Porée, etc.), the writings from thinkers such as works of thinkers such as Marcel, Levinas and Waldenfels on the phenomena of the call, the injunction or the request (Anspruch), as well as philosophical studies on phenomena such as care, justice, love, forgiveness or recognition (Boltanski, Honneth, Jankélévtich, etc.). We further ground our analysis on sociological research (Elias, Saglio-Yatzimirsky, Durand). We conclude that a philosophical anthropology, such as Ricœur's anthropology of the acting and suffering man, as long as it postulates the interdependence of human persons, must recognize the crucial role of the acts of demand and response in human existence.

Thesis (MTh)--Stellenbosch University, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Life in the present is never only about the present, but notably also about the past and the future. In this study the problematic of the representation of the past is addressed in search of a responsible historical hermeneutic. It is argued that historical hermeneutics is about the past, the present and the future, and, above all, the relation that exists between them. Historical hermeneutics facilitates our understanding of the past from our position in the present and creates meaningful ways in which we may anticipate the future. In this study I aim to contribute to the development of responsible historical hermeneutic for church and theology, especially in South Africa. To do so, I engage with the magisterial work of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur, Mémoire, l’histoire, l’oubli who, I believe, proposes valuable signposts for us to reckon with on our way to a responsible historical hermeneutic. A general introduction is given to theological historiography and the development thereof in South Africa, pointing towards reasons why it is important for responsible historical hermeneutics to exist. The work of Paul Ricoeur is introduced as a valuable partner to dialogue with in this respect. A brief intellectual biography is given regarding Ricoeur’s work in order to indicate where and how his last work fits into and forms a part of his life’s work. The third chapter of the study is an outline and discussion of Ricoeur’s work, Memory, History, Forgetting. The discussion follows the order of Ricoeur’s work itself, and I try to indicate the main lines in Ricoeur’s argument, yet giving credit to him for the thorough way in which he deals with the respective themes by engaging the disciplines of philosophy, history, sociology, neurosciences etc. Subsequently I propose certain themes from Ricoeur’s work that is important for the church historian and historical theologian as signposts towards an adequate historiographical methodology. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Lewe in die hede het nie net met die hede te make nie, maar op ‘n besondere manier ook met die verlede en die toekoms. In hierdie studie word die problematiek van die representasie van die verlede aangespreek in ‘n poging om verantwoordelike historiese hermeneutiek te bevorder. Die argument word gevoer dat historiese hermeneutiek te make het met die verlede, die hede, en die toekoms, en bowenal die verhouding waarin dit met mekaar staan. Historiese hermeneutiek fasiliteer ons verstaan van die verlede vanuit ons posisie in die hede en skep betekenisvolle maniere waarop die toekoms geantisipeer kan word. Die studie het ten doel om by te dra tot die ontwikkeling van verantwoordelike historiese hermeneutiek vir die kerk en vir teologie, veral in Suid-Afrika. Met hierdie doel voor oë, word die grootse werk van die Franse filosoof Paul Ricoeur, Mémoire, l’histoire, l’oubli, bestudeer. Die bruikbare bakens op weg na verantwoordelike historiese hermeneutiek wat Ricoeur voorstel, word uitgewys. ‘n Algemene inleiding tot teologiese historiografie en die ontwikkeling daarvan in Suid-Afrika word gegee, en die belangrikheid van verantwoordelike historiese hermeneutiek sodoende uitgewys. Die werk van Paul Ricoeur word daarna ingelei as ‘n waardevolle bron in hierdie gesprek. ‘n Opsommende intellektuele biografie van Ricoeur se werk word gegee om aan te dui waar en hoe Ricoeur se laaste werke aansluit by sy ander werke. Die derde hoofstuk van die studie is ‘n uiteensetting en bespreking van Ricoeur se werk, Mémoire, l’histoire, l’oubli. Die bespreking volg die verloop van Ricoeur se werk self, en daar word gepoog om die belangrikste lyne van Ricoeur se argument uit te lig. Terselfdertyd word erkenning gegee aan Ricoeur vir die deeglikheid waarmee hy met ‘n wye verskeidenheid temas en dissiplines omgaan: filosofie, geskiedenis, sosiologie, neurowetenskappe, ens. Ten slotte word sekere temas van Ricoeur se werk uitgelig wat belangrik is vir die kerkgeskiedkundige en die historiese teoloog as bakens op weg na ‘n voldoende historiografiese metodologie.

This study proposes to investigate the central metaphors of journey and silence as they as found in Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling. Relying primarily on Paul Ricoeur's corrective to the tradition of metaphor theory, The Rule of Metaphor, Kierkegaard's use of these metaphors will be analysed for the way in which the nature of faith is depicted in this difficult, highly lyrical text. Key features of this study include a consideration of the role of "possibility" and "indirect communication" in the language of faith and, by extension, metaphor. Ricoeur's theory helps to connect what he terms the "work" of the text with the "world" of the text.

On numerous occasions Ricoeur has characterized the goal of his philosophical analyses as the "exchange of the ego, master of itself, for the self, disciple of the text." Our investigation follows the development of this theme through careful examination of Ricoeur's phenomenological-hermeneutical philosophy. By way of contrast with Husserl's phenomenology we see how Ricoeur initiates a program of self-recovery that decenters consciousness from the immediacy of self-grounding radicality. Looking instead to the polysemic world of the text, Ricoeur chooses a path of indirect imaginative mediation as the route towards self-interpretation. / The imagination, correlative with the works of culture (signs, symbols and texts), forms the central core of Ricoeur's understanding of selfhood. Already operative in his early publications as the mediating structure of selfhood, the work of imagination is transformed from a transcendental third term into a linguistic process that constructs sonorous worlds in front of consciousness for the self to inhabit. / Ricoeur's analysis of metaphor and narrative shows selfhood to be a task accomplished by means of linguistic interpretation. However, such an interpretation of the self, with the textual world as its other, is a linguistic construction that is caught up in semantic self-identification. Ricoeur's program for the exchange of the self-enclosed ego, for a self discipled by the text, becomes entangled in the semantics of identity to such an extent that selfhood is equated with the objectifications of the reflective process and is never dealt with on the intimate level of the reflexive structure of the self in relation to otherness. This has significant consequences which need to be critically examined by philosophy of religion.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Philosophy. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 306-312). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR39035

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-108). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.