© Logoi.

ph – Journal of Philosophy - ISSN 2420-9775

N. I , 2, 2015 – P. Ricoeur and the Symphony of the Languages

Maria Cristina Clorinda Vendra

The Polyphony of Text and Life: Phenomenological Hermeneutics

Ten Years after the Death of Paul Ricoeur.
International Philosophical Congress – Krakow, 19-22 May, 2015

Abstract: Ten years after the death of Paul Ricoeur, the international conference «The Polyphony of Text and
Life: Phenomenological Hermeneutics Ten Years after the Death of Paul Ricoeur» took place in Krakow from
19 to 22 May. Hosted by the University Iagellonian, and the Jesuit University Igntianum, the event was
enlivened by contributions on Ricoeur‟s phenomenology and hermeneutics within contemporary
philosophical debate and current cultural challenges. This report shows a critical reading of the concepts
presented during these working days.

Keywords: Ricoeur, Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, Contemporary Philosophy

***

Paul Ricoeur is surely one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. His
ample theorizing, which covers more than fifty years on the contemporary scene, still offers
the possibility of being expounded and reclaimed. Beyond the temporal and quantitative
extensions in which we can situate Ricoeur‟s works, articles, essays, lectures, notes, and
other writings1, his reflection is characterized by a wide thematic range that extends from
his first analysis of the will to the question of recognition. The French philosopher finds his
place at the crossroads between different philosophical traditions such as phenomenology,
hermeneutics, analytic philosophy, liberalism, communitarianism, personalism, and the
philosophies of the gift. Moreover, his thought contributes to the development and the
renewal of the social sciences and continues to be a source of inspiration for researchers in
related areas outside philosophy. Ricoeur is considered as «philosophe de tous les
dialogues»2 since in his work he engages with various voices and disciplines, constantly
aiming for an original dialectic mediation among divergent positions.
Ten years after the death of Paul Ricoeur, the Institute for Hermeneutics, the University
Iagellonian, and the Jesuit University Igntianum in Krakow hosted the international
conference The Polyphony of Text and Life: Phenomenological Hermeneutics Ten Years
after the Death of Paul Ricoeur3. This event was inscribed within a wide context of
international research enlivened by the discussion among numerous researchers in
philosophy, sociology, and anthropology tied to the Ricoeurian legacy. The conference
aimed to investigate the contribution of Ricoeur‟s phenomenology and hermeneutics
within contemporary philosophical debate and current cultural challenges. Catherine
Goldenstein, conservator of the Fonds Ricoeur‟s archives and bound to the French
philosopher by a long friendship, properly stressed that Ricoeur has made philosophy a
way of life and of being, showing through his writings a constant concern for the concrete

1 Cfr. F. Sarcinelli, Paul Ricoeur filosofo del ‘900. Una lettura critica delle opere, Mimesis, Milano, 2013: «a
conti fatti, si tratta di oltre 30 volumi pubblicati e di un migliaio tra saggi, articoli, testi di conferenze,
interviste, appunti di corsi ed altre note sparse ora nella raccolta del Fonds Ricoeur di Parigi» (p. 20).
2 O. Abel, F. Dosse, J. Greisch, C. Reussner, P. Ricoeur, Paul Ricoeur: philosophe de tous les dialogues,

Montparnasse, Paris, 2007.

3 As speaker at the conference, I would like to express my thanks to Robert Grzywacz (Akademia

Ignatianum), Adriana Warmbier (Uniwersytet Jagiellonski), and Andrzej Wiercinski (Albert-Ludwigs-

Universität Freiburg) for the organization of these working days and for the welcoming atmosphere in
Krakow. I would like to thank also prof. George Taylor for reviewing my English translation of the report and
for his appreciation of my long term interest in Ricoeur‟s scholarship.
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problems of his time. Thus, the life of the French thinker turns out to be intrinsically linked
with his work.
The concepts presented during these intense working days can be gathered around the
following topics:
1) the relation among Ricoeur, contemporary philosophy, and today‟s cultural
transformations;
2) the concepts of imagination, justice, and practical wisdom in the Ricoeurian
philosophy of action;
3) his ethical and anthropological perspectives and his influence on the human sciences;
4) his contribution to the philosophy of religion.

1) Ricoeur, contemporary philosophy and today’s cultural transformations

In the first group, the lectures analyzed Ricoeur‟s work with reference to contemporary
phenomenology and hermeneutics. Starting from the Ricoeurian reflection on the text,
Daniel Frey (Université de Strasbourg) focused on the hermeneutics of reading. The text,
which is structured by the dialectical mediation between comprehension and explanation,
constitutes an act of access to the world. The perspective offered the promise of the
comparison between the Ricoeurian hermeneutics of text and the speculations of others
contemporary philosophers on this subject, such as Hans Georg-Gadamer.
The relation between the Ricoeurian thought and phenomenology was analyzed through
different perspectives offered by Johann Michel (EHESS-Paris), Yvanka B. Raynova
(Bulgarian Accademy of Sciences), Jérôme de Gramont (Institut Catholique de Paris), and
Robert Grzywacz (Akademia Ignatianum). In agreement with Ricoeur‟s theories, the first
speaker proposed to apply the Husserlian phenomenological concept of Rückfrage to the
historical sciences. Through reclaiming the last phase of Husserl‟s phenomenology and the
Ricoeurian transposition of the questionnement à rebours to the historical sciences,
Johann Michel suggested the possibility of an indirect inquiry into the historical condition
of humanity.
Focusing on the restoration of phenomenology supported by Ricoeur, Yvanka B.
Raynova gave an account of the Ricoeurian reception of Merleau-Ponty. Similarly to the
latter, Ricoeur starts his phenomenological reflection from Husserl, shows through
reflective philosophy the limits of the eidetic analysis, and, drawing upon Heidegger,
presents an ontology and phenomenology of being in the world. Finally, Merleau-Ponty
and Ricoeur reflect on the incarnate existence of humanity in which the will, the capacities,
the body, knowledge, and praxis are essentially tied together.
Reflecting on Ricoeur‟s aim to graft hermeneutics onto phenomenology, and criticizing
both the Husserlian pretension to found phenomenology on the pure intuition and the
Heideggerian suggestion of staying on the short route of fundamental ontology, Jérôme de
Gramont examined Ricoeurian hermeneutics. The lecturer showed metaphorically that the
phenomenological paradise of presence is lost and asked whether ontology represents at
this point the true promise land of philosophical thought. The innovativeness of this
contribution consisted in its research into the promise land in Ricoeur‟s philosophy,
concluding that it can be found in his philosophy of religion.
Starting from Husserl‟s and Bergson‟s Lebensphilosophie, Robert Grzywacz analyzed
the theme of life in Ricoeur‟s early works. This inquiry was developed with reference to the
Philosophy of the Will4 and Memory, History, Forgetting5. I found very challenging the

4 P. Ricoeur, Philosophie de la volonté I. Le volontaire et l’involontaire, Aubier Montaigne, Paris, 1950,

trans. by Erazim Kohak, Philosophy of the Will vol.1. Freedom and Nature: the Voluntary and the
Involuntary, Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1966; Philosophie de la volonté II. Finitude et
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attempt to read the question of life within a positive conception of oblivion. Therefore, the
query of life arises on the basis of internal traces and memories. Developed in these terms,
this investigation allowed the connection between phenomenology and neurology. Also
Agustin Domingo Moratalla (Universidad de Valencia) focused on this relation. Included
with Marjolaine Deschênes (EHESS Paris), Andrzej Wiercinski (Albert-Ludwigs-
Universität Freiburg), Ernst Wolff (University of Pretoria), and Manuel Prada Londoño
(University of Barcelona) in a context of contributions dedicated to the relation between
Ricoeur and some relevant contemporary problems, Agustin Domingo Moratalla examined
the moral status of the neurosciences. The originality of the proposal rested on the critical
dialogue between the Ricoeurian reflection, Changeaux‟s speculations, and the
neurosciences. This analysis permitted regaining a conception of conscience connected not
only to the brain‟s functions but to the entire body. Thus, thought has to be originated from
within the human being and is inherently bound to its corporeality beyond any monistic or
dualistic perspective.
Referring to The Course of Recognition6, where Ricoeur quotes the works of the feminist
anthropologist Françoise Heritier to explain the recognition of the self in the phenomenon
of filiation, Marjolaine Deschênes stressed that the philosopher does not recognize the
authenticity and the contribution of feminist anthropology. Moreover, the lecturer pointed
out that in the same pages in which Ricoeur refers to Heritiers, he showed his debt to Pière
Legende, known for his homophobic argumentations. Marjolaine Deschênes‟ lecture was a
very stimulating discourse articulated through examination of the Ricoeurian conception
of recognition, feminist anthropology, and the current questions of sexual and gender
differences.
Andrzej Wiercinski reflected instead on the gift of life and on the nature of human
acting within actual society. Facing the domain of social atomism and the ontology of
power, the presentation developed a tripartite hermeneutics of aging through an
ontological approach to action, an ethical inquiry into the social and political aspects of
aging which has to consider technological changes, and practical research into the
responsibility of present institution to the well-being of elderly and needy people.
Moreover, the speaker focused his attention on the aesthetics of Christianity and
compassion towards alterity conceived as a source of an overabundant gift for our life.
Ernst Wolff‟s and Manuel Prada Londoño‟s research framed Ricoeurian thought on the
struggle for recognition in relation to the historical situation of their native countries:
South Africa and Colombia. Considering the «states of peace» in the last section of Course
of Recognition and in the works of Luc Boltanski, the first speaker focused on the acts of
resistance undertaken toward institutionalized violence. He proposed an original
connection between the clarification of these actions and the discourse of Nelson Mandela
in the Rivonia trial. Also, the second lecturer called into question legal recognition and its
dual object: legal rules and the protection of others. The paper was driven by the attempt
to apply Ricoeur‟s reflection on recognition to the discussion of criminal justice in
Colombia.

culpabilité. L’homme faillible, Aubier, Paris, 1960, trans. by Charles A. Kelbley, Philosophy of the Will vol.2.
Fallible Man, Fordham University Press, New York, 1967.
5 P. Ricoeur, La mémoire, l’histoire, l’oubli, Seuil, Paris, 2000, trans. by Kathleen Blamey and David Pellauer,

Memory, History, Forgetting, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2004.

6 P. Ricoeur, Parcours de la reconnaissance, Éditions Stock, Paris, 2004, trans. by David Pellauer, The

Course of Recognition, Harvard University Press, Harvard, 2005.

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2) Imagination, justice, and practical wisdom in the Ricoeurian philosophy of

action

The second group of interventions looked at the philosophy of action, justice, and social-
political inquiry in Ricoeur‟s thought, reflecting on the theoretical fundamentals within a
critical study.
George Taylor (University of Pittsburgh) and Roger Savage (University of California, Los
Angeles) examined the subject of imagination within the political and social context. The
contribution of George Taylor took under consideration the function of the productive
imagination in Ricoeur‟s thought. Under the lens of phenomenology, the proposal
explained this new conception of imagination and its productive power through the theory
of intentionality, of fiction, and iconic argumentation. The lecturer highlighted that
imagination and utopias are necessary to accomplish the remaking of our social world.
Starting from Ricoeur‟s critique on social theories, Roger Savage described the utopian
role of imagination and supports its vital necessity for the renewal of praxis. The research
initially stressed the theme of imagination in aesthetic experience: in literature, music, and
arts. Furthermore, the lecturer transposed these arguments to the ethical and political
spheres reflecting on the logic of hope.
Marion Stahl (Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt) presented the different
Ricoeurian approaches to the phenomenon of the just: anthropological,
phenomenological-hermeneutic, and legal. The analysis began with the investigation of the
just in the “little ethics” of Oneself as Another7, and concentrated on the connection
between the subject of rights, the law, and responsibility in the Ricoeurian practical
philosophy.

3) The ethical and anthropological perspectives and Ricoeurian influence on

the human sciences

The anthropology of capabilities, the relation with alterity, the attestation of the self, the
questions of secularity, of public space, and interreligious dialogue represented the focal
cores around which were involved the presentations about ethics proposed by Todd Mei
(University of Dundee), Morny Joy (University of Calgary), Marek Drwiega (Uniwersytet
Jagiellonski), Adriana Warmbier (Uniwersytet Jagiellonski), Adam J. Graves
(Metropolitan State University of Denver), Krzysztof Mech (Uniwersytet Jagiellonski),
Tomas Domingo Moratalla (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), and Maria Cristina
Clorinda Vendra (Università di Chieti-Pescara).
Todd Mei showed the different types of beliefs that arise in the Ricoeurian philosophical
anthropology. The speaker focused on the distinction between belief-in and belief-that,
appraising the Ricoeurian attempt to legitimate a type of belief beyond the categories of
doxa and episteme.
Regarding Ricoeur‟s anthropology, Morny Joy reflected on actions, human capabilities,
and recognition. The proposal gave an account of the concept of action within Ricoeurian
phenomenology and hermeneutics, passing through the speculation on the will and the
text, and the semantic and symbolic analysis of action. The lecturer examined the
relationship between actions, intentions, and the power of acting (“I can”). Moreover,
connecting Ricoeur‟s thought to Hannah Arendt, Morny Joy reflected on homo capax, as
an acting and suffering being which is responsible for its acts.
Marek Drwiega and Adriana Warmbier investigated the conception of relational identity
in the works Oneself as Another and Course of Recognition. The first lecturer reread the

7P. Ricoeur, Soi-même comme un autre, Seuil, Paris, 1990, trans. by Kathleen Blamey, Oneself as Another,
Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1992.
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relation with alterity through the comparison between Ricoeur‟s and Emmanuel Levinas‟
thought. The speaker suggested a critical analysis on the asymmetry of the relation with
the other proposed by the Lithuanian philosopher, and on the notions of reciprocity,
mutual recognition, and generosity in Ricoeur‟s work. Also, Adriana Warmbier explored
the relational concept of identity, its non-auto-foundational character, and its non-
coincidence. This intervention highlighted the difference between mêmété and ipseité, and
reflected on the type of alterity corresponding to these two models of identity.
The notion of attestation and the theory of speech acts were at the bottom of Adam J.
Graves‟ presentation. The lecture recalled Ricoeur‟s early works and proposed, referring to
analysis of the act of confession, a clarification of the complex relation between moral
responsibility, attestation of the self, and narrative identity. In the same way, Krzysztof
Mech explained the Ricoeurian conception of subjectivity within the linguistic sphere. The
presentation clarified the connection between the Ricoeurian pre-semantic reflection on
the consciousness of the self through desire and the semantic distinction between meaning
and sense.
The lectures of Tomas Domingo Moratalla and Maria Cristina Clorinda Vendra
suggested a joint discussion on secularization, public space, and interreligious dialogue.
The first speaker explored the Ricoeurian conception of laicité positive and presented two
types of secularization: laicité-marché and laicité-agorà, which means a negative and a
positive secularization, a secularization of abstention and a secularization of confrontation.
The speaker tried to understand the place of secularization within the renewal of the public
space, pointing out the demanding question of the education needed for deliberation into
the social context. The reflection on the public sphere found its place also in the paper of
Maria Cristina Clorinda Vendra. Entirely in agreement with Tomas Domingo Moratalla,
the lecturer stressed that the Ricoeurian hermeneutics gives important elements for
rethinking plurality in the social space. Maria Cristina Clorinda Vendra took a further step
by applying the hermeneutics of translation to interreligious dialogue. The originality of
the presentation consisted in the suggestion of a new reflexive „we‟ and in the formulation
of a „hermeneutics of interdependent cohabitation‟ inspired by Ricoeurian philosophy.

4) Ricoeurian contribution to the philosophy of religion

The conference hosted also some very interesting papers on the Ricoeurian contribution
to the philosophy of religion.
Starting from the distinction between the Heideggerian terms of attestation and the
Nabertian term of testimony, Carla Canullo (Università di Macerata) reflected on the
relationship between radical evil and hope in the Ricoeurian speculation on the religious
phenomenon. Through analysis on homo capax as bearer of the religious message, the
lecturer focused on the place of religion in human existence. The religious phenomenon is
what allows the renewal and the improvement of human capabilities, which are touched by
evil, and opens us towards hope.
Karol Tarnowski (Uniwersytet Papieski Jana Pawla II) showed the relation between the
notion of sacral manifestation, the biblical revelation of the Word, and testimony, one of
the central terms in Ricoeurian philosophy. The proposal highlighted that at the center of
Ricoeur‟s hermeneutics there is the problem of evil conceived as a challenge for human
reason and human freedom. The hermeneutic field is characterized by truth as revelation,
which proves the dependence of the human, and this is irreducible to objective truth. The
speaker concluded by saying that, from the point of view of reason, hermeneutics has two
limits: the secret and the mystery.
Based on the theme of evil and human culpability in Ricoeurian thought, René Dentz
(Jesuit Faculty of Belo Horizonte) analyzed the problems of sin, human vulnerability, and
forgiveness. The speaker suggested that according to Ricoeur‟s religious creed, God
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recognizes the fragility of humans, and this leads to an alliance fed with unconditional love,
which allows for redemption from sinful actions.
Tomoaki Yamada (EHESS Paris) and Nicola Stricker (IPT Paris) reflected on Ricoeurian
speculation as a “philosophie sans absolu”. Reclaiming the posthumous work Vivant
jusqu’à la mort8, the first lecturer focused on existential resistance, the value of life, and
the difficult course of reconciliation between the refusal and the consent of death. This
contribution examined the theme of the mémoire de Dieu, highliting the reception and the
influence of Pierre Thévenaz in the last years of Ricoeur‟s life.
Even if Ricoeur‟s philosophy cannot be considered as a theology, an ontotheology, or a
philosophy of religion, Nicola Stricker proposed some theological implications of
Ricoeurian anthropology. The speculation on human nature and its constitutive principles,
the reflection on the text and the narrative identity, the conception of the human as agent
and suffering being, and the responsibility for its actions, are inherently connected to the
religious themes of creation, sin, resurrection, revelation, conversion, and judgment. The
human, who finds its place between being and nothingness, is moved by the desire to be
and recognizes the miracle of being born.

In conclusion, these days of the Congress, which were animated by the spirit of être
ensemble creatifs, do not invite us to look back nostalgically to the thought of Paul
Ricoeur, but encourage us to move his work towards the future thanks to the engagement
with these experiences.

8P. Ricoeur, Vivant jusqu’à la mort, Seuil, Paris, 2007, trans. by David Pellauer, Living up to Death, Chicago
University Press, Chicago, 2009.
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