Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics: Transforming Political Structures into Just Institutions through the Critical Appropriation of Political Power
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj1806.02.03Keywords:
Ricoeur, hermeneutics, political power, political vigilance, reflectionAbstract
In this paper, I aim to show that the critical appropriation of political power can be a potential tool in transforming political structures into just institutions. To achieve this aim, I employ Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of symbols because in his different political essays, he consistently regards political power as akin to a symbol. Thus, for him, the critical appropriation of political power requires a hermeneutical procedure. And so in my discussion, I devote one section for Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of symbols, one for his thoughts on political power, and another one for the critical appropriation of political power through the hermeneutics of symbols. To put Ricoeur’s political and hermeneutical thoughts in a better light, I introduce these sections with a separate section on his philosophical anthropology. In my conclusion, I affirm that transforming political structures into just institutions is very much possible through the critical appropriation of political power. It is such a potential tool in effecting these transformations because the critical appropriation of political power involves a hermeneutical procedure that follows a three-step process of reflection. And reflection, which makes way for the critical appropriation of political power, is what ensures that power rests only in the hands of those who are more likely to advance the common good, resulting into a greater possibility for the transformation of political structures into just institutions.
References
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Dierckxsens, G. (2018). Paul Ricoeur’s moral anthropology: Singularity, responsibility, and justice. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
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Itao, A. D. S. (2010, December). Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of symbols: A critical dialectic of suspicion and faith. Kritike, 4(2) 1-17. Retrieved from http://www.kritike.org/journal/issue_8/itao_december2010.pdf
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Maddox, T. D. F. (2013). Recognition, legitimization, and the suggestion of tacit slave-ideology today: A Ricoeurian investigation. In G. S. Johnson, & D. R. Stiver (Eds.), Paul Ricoeur and the task of political philosophy (pp. 145-158). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Mann, M. H. (2012). Ricoeur, Rawls, and capability justice: Civic phronesis and equality. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Monteil, P. O. (2015). Paradoxes in Ricoeur’s political thinking. In P. Kemp, & N. Hashimoto (Eds.), Eco-etica 4, Ethics and politics: With a third part on Paul Ricoeur (pp. 227-240). Zürich: LIT Verlag.
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Ricoeur, P. (1965). History and truth. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1967). The symbolism of evil. Boston: Beacon Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1970). Freud and philosophy: An essay on interpretation. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1974). The Conflict of Interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1974a). Consciousness and the unconscious. In D. Ihde (Ed.), The conflict of interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics (pp. 99-120). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1974b). Existence and hermeneutics. In D. Ihde (Ed.), The conflict of interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics (pp. 3-26). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1974c). Psychoanalysis and the movement of contemporary culture. In D. Ihde (Ed.), The conflict of interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics (pp. 121-159). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, Paul (1974d). The hermeneutics of symbols and philosophical reflection: II. In D. Ihde (Ed.), The conflict of interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics (pp. 315-334). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1981). Appropriation. In J. B. Thompson (Ed.), Hermeneutics and the human sciences: Essays on language, action, and interpretation (pp. 182-194). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1986). Fallible man: The philosophy of the will. New York: Fordham University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1992). Oneself as another. Chicago: The Chicago University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1998). Critique and conviction: Conversations with François Azouvi and Marc Launay. New York: Colombia University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (2000). The just. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ricoeur, P. (2007). History and truth. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (2010). Power and violence. Theory, Culture, and Society 27(5), 18-36.
Ricoeur, P. (2013). The moral, the ethical, and the political. In G. S. Johnson, & D. R. Stiver (Eds.), Paul Ricoeur and the task of political philosophy (pp. 13-24). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books
Ricoeur, P. (2016). The antinomy of human reality and the problem of a philosophical anthropology. In J. M. and J. Porée (Eds.), Philosophical anthropology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Scott-Baumann, A. (2009). Ricoeur and the hermeneutics of suspicion. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Simms, K. (2003). Paul Ricoeur. London: Routledge.
Suazo, R. S. (2014). Ricoeur’s ethics of politics and democracy. Philosophy Today, 58(4), 697-712.
Transforming unjust structures: The capability approach (2006). Dordrecht: Springer.
Arendt, H. (1972). The crisis of the republic: Lying in politics, civil disobedience, on violence, thoughts on politics, and revolution. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Dauenhauer, B. P. (1998). Paul Ricoeur: The promise and risk of politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Dauenhauer, B. P. (2000). Elements of Ricoeur’s early political thought. In K. Thompson, & L. Embree. Phenomenology of the political (pp. 67-79). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Retrieved from https://epdf.tips/phenomenology-of-the-political-contributions-to-phenomenology-volume-38.html
Deweer, D. (2017). Ricoeur’s personalist republicanism: Personhood and citizenship. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Dierckxsens, G. (2018). Paul Ricoeur’s moral anthropology: Singularity, responsibility, and justice. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Garcia, L. M. (1994). The political structure of society: Paul Ricoeur’s view on politics and the state. In M. B. Dy, Jr. (Ed.), Contemporary social philosophy (pp. 37-46). Quezon City: JMC Press.
Helenius, T. (2016). Ricoeur, culture, and recognition: A hermeneutic of cultural subjectivity. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Hesni, S. (2013, February). Personhood, promises, and the politics of narrative: A Ricoeurian critique of Rawls’s theory of justice. Philosophy Today, 57(1), 84-98.
Ihde, D. (1995). Paul Ricoeur’s place in the hermeneutic tradition. In L. E. Hahn (Ed.), The philosophy of Paul Ricoeur. Illinois: Open Court.
Itao, A. D. S. (2010, December). Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of symbols: A critical dialectic of suspicion and faith. Kritike, 4(2) 1-17. Retrieved from http://www.kritike.org/journal/issue_8/itao_december2010.pdf
Kaplan, D. M. (2003). Ricoeur’s critical theory. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Maddox, T. D. F. (2013). Recognition, legitimization, and the suggestion of tacit slave-ideology today: A Ricoeurian investigation. In G. S. Johnson, & D. R. Stiver (Eds.), Paul Ricoeur and the task of political philosophy (pp. 145-158). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Mann, M. H. (2012). Ricoeur, Rawls, and capability justice: Civic phronesis and equality. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Monteil, P. O. (2015). Paradoxes in Ricoeur’s political thinking. In P. Kemp, & N. Hashimoto (Eds.), Eco-etica 4, Ethics and politics: With a third part on Paul Ricoeur (pp. 227-240). Zürich: LIT Verlag.
Pellauer, D., & Dauenhauer, B. (2016). Paul Ricoeur. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Stanford, CA: Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/ricoeur/
Purwadi, Y. S. (2014). The primacy of language in Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics. PrajÃ±Ä VihÄra: Journal of Philosophy and Religion, 15(1), 51-66.
Ricoeur, P. (1965). History and truth. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1967). The symbolism of evil. Boston: Beacon Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1970). Freud and philosophy: An essay on interpretation. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1974). The Conflict of Interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1974a). Consciousness and the unconscious. In D. Ihde (Ed.), The conflict of interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics (pp. 99-120). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1974b). Existence and hermeneutics. In D. Ihde (Ed.), The conflict of interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics (pp. 3-26). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1974c). Psychoanalysis and the movement of contemporary culture. In D. Ihde (Ed.), The conflict of interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics (pp. 121-159). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, Paul (1974d). The hermeneutics of symbols and philosophical reflection: II. In D. Ihde (Ed.), The conflict of interpretations: Essays in hermeneutics (pp. 315-334). Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1981). Appropriation. In J. B. Thompson (Ed.), Hermeneutics and the human sciences: Essays on language, action, and interpretation (pp. 182-194). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1986). Fallible man: The philosophy of the will. New York: Fordham University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1992). Oneself as another. Chicago: The Chicago University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (1998). Critique and conviction: Conversations with François Azouvi and Marc Launay. New York: Colombia University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (2000). The just. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Ricoeur, P. (2007). History and truth. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Ricoeur, P. (2010). Power and violence. Theory, Culture, and Society 27(5), 18-36.
Ricoeur, P. (2013). The moral, the ethical, and the political. In G. S. Johnson, & D. R. Stiver (Eds.), Paul Ricoeur and the task of political philosophy (pp. 13-24). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books
Ricoeur, P. (2016). The antinomy of human reality and the problem of a philosophical anthropology. In J. M. and J. Porée (Eds.), Philosophical anthropology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Scott-Baumann, A. (2009). Ricoeur and the hermeneutics of suspicion. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Simms, K. (2003). Paul Ricoeur. London: Routledge.
Suazo, R. S. (2014). Ricoeur’s ethics of politics and democracy. Philosophy Today, 58(4), 697-712.
Transforming unjust structures: The capability approach (2006). Dordrecht: Springer.
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Published
2018-12-31
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Itao, A. D. S. (2018). Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics: Transforming Political Structures into Just Institutions through the Critical Appropriation of Political Power. Recoletos Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.32871/rmrj1806.02.03
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