Paul Ricoeur

Farhang Erfani is assistant professor of philosophy at American University and research associate at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa. His first book was about Jean-Paul Sartre and Paul Ricœur, entitled Aesthetics of Autonomy (Lexington Books, 2011). His second book, Iranian Cinema and Philosophy: Shooting Truth, is forthcoming with Palgrave.

In this collection of edited articles, 14 accomplished scholars think with and beyond Paul Ricoeur in an effort to honor and continue his work. This is no small task, since Ricoeur's corpus is extensive, interdisciplinary, and diffuse. An astute student of many schools of thought, particularly phenomenology and hermeneutics, Ricoeur devoted his life to fashioning a philosophical anthropology centered on the capable human being. Here the focus falls on topics that preoccupied Ricoeur during his long and prolific career: language, imagination, narrative, history, religion, ethics, love, justice, memory, forgiveness, hope, and personal identity, to name the most salient. At the same time, contributors creatively extend the philosopher's ideas to engage issues such as technology, globalization, and national memorials. A portrait of intellectual integrity, Ricoeur always acknowledged the contributions of others. He also refused to take methodological short cuts, preferring instead the roundabout route, a rigorous path that required him to consider competing conceptions together in order to mediate between them productively. There is much to celebrate in Ricoeur, and this substantial anthology is eminently worthy of the man it ardently seeks to commemorate. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

• IntroductionChapter 1: Owl of Minerva Takes Flight: Obituary for Paul RicoeurRichard KearneyChapter 2: Love and Justice: A Memorial Tribute to Paul RicoeurFred DallmayrChapter 3: Paul Ricoeur and the Philosophy of TechnologyDavid M: KaplanChapter 4: Twice Difficult ForgivenessHenry VenemaChapter 5: Ricoeur, Poetics, and Religious EthicsJohn WallChapter 6: A New Fragility: Ricoeur in the Age of GlobalizationFarhang Erfani and John F: Whitmire, JrChapter 7: Remembering the Battle of Gettysburg: Paul Ricoeur and the Politics of MemoryGregory HoskinsChapter 8: A Feminist on Forgiveness: When (Where?) Love and Justice Come ApartPamela Sue AndersonChapter 9: Hope, Imagination, and Reflective Judgment: Paul Ricoeur and Immanuel KantPatrick BourgeoisChapter 10: Oneself with Another: Following the Thread of Paul Ricoeur’s The Course of RecognitionLorenzo AltieriChapter 11: In Search of a Poetics of the WillDomenico JervolinoChapter 12: Paul Ricoeur and the Duty to RememberMorny JoyChapter 13: Figuring the Sacred: Ricoeur on Biblical HistoryJason SpringsChapter 14: Foundation of Ethics Considered through the Ethics in the Century of RicoeurPeter KempSelected BibliographyContributor Bios