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Paul Ricoeur's work is of seminal importance to the development of hermeneutics, phenomenology and ideology critique in the human sciences. This major volume assembles leading scholars to address and explain the significance of Ricoeur's extraordinary body of work.

Opening with three key essays from Ricoeur himself - on Europe, fragility and responsibility, and love and justice - the book offers a fascinating tour of his work ranging across topics such as the hermeneutics of action, narrative force, the other and deconstruction while discussing his work in the context of other key figures including Heidegger, L[ac]evinas, Arendt and Gadamer.

A very useful overview of Paul Ricoeur's enormous contribution to modern thought, the book will be invaluable for students and academics across the social and human sciences and philosophy.

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Del texto a la accion reune los principales ensayos escritos por Paul Ricoeur desde El conflicto de las interpretaciones. En estrecho vinculo con la publicacion de sus obras fundamentales como La metafora viva o los tres tomos de Tiempo y narracion Ric ur nunca dejo de interrogarse acerca de la unidad de su propio tabajo ni de despegar los diversos registros de reflexion en forma de articulos conferencias y ensayos. El presente volumen hilvana las etapas de un recorrido original (de la fenomenologia a la hermeneutica de la hermeneutica del texto a la hermeneutica de la accion) pone el acento en las relaciones que intervienen entre una reflexion sobre el discurso y la narracion y realiza una interrogacion sobre la ideologia y la accion humana en el seno de la ciudad. Ese recorrido no puede ser disociado de la voluntad de confrontar y de intercambiar que atraviesa estos ensayos: Paul Ricoeur entrecruza aqui su pensamiento con el de Wilhelm Dilthey Martin Heidegger Hans-Georg Gadamer pero tambien con las ciencias humanas la Escuela de Frankfurt la filosofia del lenguaje y la filosofia politica. Del texto a la accion manifiesta con esplendor la pasion por filosofar que caracteriza toda la obra de Paul Ricoeur. ... Read more

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El tema filosofico planteado por este trabajo de composicion narrativa es el de las relaciones entre el tiempo del relato y el de la vida y de la accion afectiva. Este volumen de Tiempo y narracion demuestra por lo pronto que la fenomenologia de san Agustin a Heidegger, condujo a una insoslayable Aporetica del tiempo. La segunda seccion muestra como a estos callejones sin salida del pensamiento, la Poetica del relato responde, movilizando, por el canal de la lectura, los recursos entrecruzados de la historia y la ficcion. ... Read more

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A comprehensive introduction to Ricoeur, this study includes full background information on all areas of his work and a bibliography. Chapters include: "The Human Questions", "The Challenge of Faith", "The Christian Tradition", "The Crisis of Society", and "A Theory of Symbol". ... Read more

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This book provides a perceptive analysis of the "narrative turn" that led Paul Ricoeur to his magisterial work Time and Narrative. Ricoeur has for many years explored the intersections of diverse strands of European philosophy, but it is his recent work that has attracted the most discussion and engendered the most debate in Europe and America. The Narrative Path explores the roots and meaning of that work.Two of the book's five essays reach back to Ricoeur's earlier work to clarify his themes: Richard Kearney concentrates on the role of imagination in hermeneuties, and Maria Villela Petit explores the development of Ricoeur's concept of history from History and Truth to Time and Narrative. Two essays analyze the significance of Ricoeur's reflections on metaphoric and narrative language: Serge Mellinger looks at the relationship between time and poetry from the point of view of Ricoeur's discussions of the connection between time and narrative, and T. Peter Kemp extends Ricoeur's analysis to argue that narration is indispensable to ethics. The book concludes with a reflection by Ricoeur himself on the linguistic, practical, and ethical dimensions of human beings, and with a bibliography of Ricoeur's work in English.T. Peter Kemp teaches in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. The Narrative Path is based on a special issue of the journal Philosophy and Social Criticism, edited by David Rasmussen, who is Professor of Philosophy at Boston College. ... Read more

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Paul Ricoeur is one of the most prolific philosophers alive today. Many studies have been done on Ricoeur's philosophy, but very little on his theological trajectory and its connection to Biblical hermeneutics. Living Hermeneutics in Motion brings to light the diverse ways in which Ricoeur's hermeneutic revolutions concerning a meaningful text can be useful, specifically in the area of biblical interpretation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Hope-filled Way Forward in Biblical Interpretation
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in thinking deeply about how to read the Bible in our present post-modern situation, and understanding how our own ways of reading it fit into a much wider philosophical context.

The book begins with a tremendously helpful explanation of the extreme positions taken by modernism and post-modernism in relation to interpretation. On the one hand, modernism purports a utopian trust in human reason's ability to correctly interpret and understand a text's meaning. On the other hand, post-modernism, in its extreme form, finds no meaning inherent in the text. Texts cannot refer to anything outside of themselves, and are merely internal systems of signs and symbols. Laughery finds a way forward between these two extremes of absolute certainty and absolute indeterminacy with regard to interpretation in the work of the French philosopher/hermeneutician Paul Ricoeur. Ricoeur refocuses the discussion in hermeneutics on the "world" of the text. It may seem obvious to us that a conversation about how to interpret a text would actually focus on the given text itself. But instead, the text itself is often left out of the analysis in favor of a focus on what lies "behind" the text (a Romantic notion) or on the symbols or codes that are at "play" within the text and which cannot carry meaning in themselves (the structuralist position). In his return to the text, Ricoeur demonstrates the differences and similarities between the speech act/event and the written word or text. The text, like the spoken word, referents an author, a reader, and the world created by the text itself: a speaking subject says something about something to someone.

What Laughery calls a "living hermeneutics in motion" is based on Ricoeur's hermeneutical movement from understanding (prefiguration) through explanation (configuration) to new understanding (refiguration). Laughery uses this to open up new possibilities for reading the Bible in a way that acknowledges the limitations of a text and of its reader, without having to throw one's hands in the air and give up on finding any meaning in the text at all. And he makes way for us to allow ourselves to be transformed by the text (in a "new understanding"), rather than continuously forcing our subjective selves and experiences onto the text. Laughery takes this hermeneutic a vital step further than Ricoeur when he says that not only should the Biblical text transform our lives as individual readers, but it should transform the world as its readers act it out into the world. In this engagement with the world, the text's capacity to explain can be estimated, and the reader can return with text back through the three movements of the hermeneutic. This is the "living" part of the hermeneutics in motion.

Crucial to the argument for this new hermeneutic are several other contingent discussions expounded within the book. In them, Laughery puts Ricoeur in dialogue with theologians, philosophers, and literary theorists such as R. Bultmann, H. Frei, J.D. Crossan, and David Carr. Laughery addresses at length the two extreme methodologies of structuralism (no meaning, only play) and historical criticism (meaning found in historical evidence). When these are elevated to theories rather than methods, both structuralism and historical criticism become reductionistic. Laughery shows how both are necessary to the middle process of explanation. By way of an example, Laughery takes us through a comparison of Ricoeur and Crossan's work on the parables of Jesus. Crossan correctly shows the parables' ability to dis-orient the reader. However, that is where he stops. Ricoeur argues that the parables, full of meaning, also have the power to re-orient. Then, in an investigation into the current debates about narrative, Laughery shows how Ricoeur offers a balanced approach that avoids the modernist tendency to equate narrative with historical fact and the post-modern propensity to equate fiction and history.

Before concluding, Laughery offers an invaluable alternative in the debate between those who argue for a consideration of authorial intent, and those who profess a reader-response theory (as in Stanley Fish's famous quote, "the reader's response is not to the meaning, it is the meaning"). He clarifies that acknowledging the intent of the author should not be equated with the extreme position that takes intent to mean psychological state. Rather, the author's intent should be located in his/her literary act.

Because this was written as Laughery's dissertation for a Swiss university, many of the quotations from Ricoeur remain in French. However, Laughery seems to always paraphrase them following their citation. He also helps us through the argument by continuously reminding us from where we have come and where we are headed. The structure of the book echoes the "living hermeneutic in motion" in its division into three parts: prefiguration, configuration, and refiguration.

The difficulty of this read, however, is by no means the primary reason I predict that I and many others will be re-reading it for many years. Laughery, always concerned that we do not fall into the easy either-or traps that are so prevalent, is a prophetic voice in our present atmosphere of confusion over interpretation. Many of us within the Church today recognize that our current divisive issues stem from conflicting understandings of how to interpret the Bible and what it means to say that the Bible is "true." I believe that this book's relevance to our current situation will only become more and more evident. Gregory J. Laughery is a name we should be watching if we are interested in finding a hope-filled way forward with academic integrity. Even if the only thing one takes away from this book is a clearer understanding of the modernism-post-modernism problem as it relates to Biblical interpretation, it is more than worth the read. Readers will not help but start to recognize how often that problem surfaces in even the most casual of conversations about the Bible.

Exciting look at Ricouer's views on Biblical interpretation
This book situates the work of linguistic philosopher Paul Ricouer over against the imperious claims of modernism and the negating voices of post-modernism. Ricoeur, according to Laughery, offers a way out of the current impasse in Bible interpretation.

"Living hermeneutics in motion" points to Ricoeur's vision of the interpretive journey as a rigorous, dynamic process through the text to a new understanding, guided by and tethered by the text itself. The book explores Ricoeur's thinking on the nature of texts, methodology, and narrative. Laughery places Ricoeur in dialogue with a host of scholars in the field of interpretation theory.

Ricoeur prefers a dialectical approach over either-or positions. For example, he insists that Biblical discourse is grounded in actual events, but also claims that the event "disappears" in the inscribing of the text. The book also considers Ricouer's middle way through the extremes of historical criticism and structuralism, a postmodernist methodology which treats the text as a system of self-referring symbols. Ricoeur sees both as fruitful stages in the interpretive movement through the text.

According to Laughery, the strength of Ricouer's view is his insistence on the centrality of the text in Biblical interpretation. By confronting the reader with a real world, the text challenges her to reach a new understanding of God, self, and the world. This motion through the text is transformative.

Laughery's approach is balanced and informed by extensive scholarship. He also critques Ricouer at several key points, such as the proper role of authorial intent guiding interpretation. Caution: Readers with no French ability or only a smattering of French may be frustrated by the use of citations in French (this was originally a doctoral dissertation for a Swiss university).

All in all, however, "Living Hermeneutics in Motion" is a comprehensive survey of Ricouer's hermeneutical thought. Laughery presents a compelling case for taking seriously Ricoeur's contribution to Biblical hermeneutics, and organizes Ricoeur's non-systematic works on this subject in a way that should make it easier for others to build on.

Paul Ricouer, by way of Greg Laughery: good!
In my reading of Paul Ricouer over the past decade, I became enthralled with this theologian/philosopher/literateur's sense of the text as something to be taken seriously, but also his wrestling with the question, "but how, in a world of shifting Theory and a healthy skepticism regarding "objective" readings?

Ricouer himself has raised and answered many of these questions, but I always felt the need for a more systematic overview of this thought. If only he (or someone) would present a more comprehensive/cohering view! And Greg Laughery has now done it, in his wonderful little book, "Living Hermeneutics In Motion" ("An Analysis and Evaluation of Paul Ricoeur's Contribution to Biblical Hermeneutics"), University Press of America, 2002.

Laughery's review of the contemporary hermeneutical scene is clear and lively, and his contextualizing of Ricouer's thought extremely helpful. Most helpful, because the reader gains a better sense of just how compelling Ricouer's contribution really is.

And Laughery contributes to this hermeneutical dialogue with his own refreshing insight, particularly in regard to understanding biblical parables. The author's persistent interest in negotiating "boundaries"--of text and reader, of "fiction" and "history"--help place this work among the "must reads" for persons serious enough about biblical interpretation to be at sea. Greg Laughery's mediation of Ricouer will provide interesting if not entirely "safe" harbor. ... Read more

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Paul Ricoeur's theory of narrative has implications for a wide spectrum of contemporary thought. This collection of essays explores many of the areas to which his narrative strategies can be fruitfully applied, including architecture, psychology, psychoanalysis, feminist theory, ethics, sociology, medieval and contemporary literature, and religious studies. The book provides an introduction to the creative and productive resources of Ricoeur's narrative theory and offers a helpful survey of many of his key concepts for those who may be unfamiliar with Ricoeur's work. ... Read more

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Although Paul Ricoeur's writings are widely and appreciatively read by theologians, this book offers a full, sympathetic yet critical account of Ricoeur's theory of narrative interpretation and its contribution to theology. Unlike many previous studies of Ricoeur, Part I argues that Ricoeur's hermeneutics must be viewed in the light of his overall philosophical agenda, as a fusion and continuation of the unfinished projects of Kant and Heidegger. Particularly helpful is the focus on Ricoeur's recent narrative theory as the context in which Ricoeur deals with problems of time and the creative imagination; and it becomes clear that narrative stands at the crossroads of Ricoeur's search for the meaning of human being as well as his search for the meaning of texts. Part II examines the potential of Ricoeur's narrative theory for resolving certain theological problems, such as the dichotomy betweens the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. ... Read more

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Paul Ricoeur, with Rawls, Walzer, and Habermas as some of his main interlocutors, has developed a substantial and distinctive body of political thought. On the one hand, it articulates a rich conception of the paradoxical character of the domain of politics. On the other, it provides a fresh approach to such major topics as the relationship among politics, economics, and ethics and between concern for universal human rights and respect for cultural plurality. His work, rooted as it is in Aristotle, Kant, and Hegel, also provides resources for a fruitful rethinking of the issues at stake in the liberal-communitarian debate. ... Read more

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The philosophical activity and publications of Paul Ricoeur cover a period of seventy years. As a student at the Sorbonne in 1935, he published the first product of his pen, "L'appel de l'action. Reflexions d'un etudiant protestant." His last article, "Devenir capable, etre reconnu," was written a few months before his death on 20th May 2005, and appeared later in Esprit. Between those two titles - in which "action and reflection" and "the capable man and recognition" represent key notions of his philosophical itinerary - Ricoeur published some thirty books. Encouraged by friends and colleagues I present here a revised version of my bibliography, updated and as complete as possible. ... Read more