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5.0 out of 5 stars
Central ideas for critical engagement, November 8, 2003
This review is from: Paul Ricoeur (Routledge Critical Thinkers) (Hardcover)
Karl Simms' text on Paul Ricoeur is part of a recent series put out by the Routledge Press, designed under the general editorial direction of Robert Eaglestone (Royal Holloway, University of London), to explore the most recent and exciting ideas in intellectual development during the past century or so. To this end, figures such as Martin Heidegger, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jacques Derrida, and other influential thinkers in critical thought are highlighted in the series, planned to include 21 volumes in all.
Simms' text, following the pattern of the others, includes background information on Ricoeur and its significance, the key ideas and sources, and Ricoeur's continuing impact on other thinkers. As the series preface indicates, no critical thinker arises in a vacuum, so the context, influences and broader cultural environment are all important as a part of the study, something with which Ricoeur would agree.
Why is Ricoeur included in this series? Ricoeur is a very wide-ranging thinker, whose influence has extended into psychology, history, politics, linguistics, literary analysis, philosophy, science, and theology (and even further afield). Ricoeur's intention behind the work is that of their being 'good', not in the sense of academic rigour or intellectual soundness (although these qualities are not overlooked), but rather, that they should be ethically good. Simms writes that Ricoeur is a philosopher of faith rather than a philosopher of suspicion, and this places him apart from many of his contemporaries.
Ricoeur is also an 'epigenetic' thinker - his thought is cumulative; he builds upon his previous works and influences. This is seen in the construction of this text. The key ideas identified by Simms are Good and Evil, Hermeneutics, Psychoanalysis, Metaphor, Narrative, Ethics, and finally Politics and Justice. As a reader who has studied theology, religion, philosophy and political science, the breadth of Ricoeur is particularly appealing.
One of the useful features of the text is the side-bar boxes inserted at various points. For example, during the discussion on Ricoeur's development of Good and Evil, there are brief discussions, set apart from the primary strand of the text, on Phenomenology, the Cartesian Cogito, Existentialism, and Orpheus, developing further these ideas should the reader not be familiar with them, or at least not in the way with which Ricoeur would be working with ideas derived from them. Each section on a key idea spans twenty to thirty pages, with a two-page summary concluding each, which gives a recap of the ideas (and provides a handy reference).
My first interest in Ricoeur developed out of an interest in narrative theology, and when tackling his massive 'Time and Narrative', I found it complex and exacting reading. Simms does a brilliant job at putting together the key points of Ricoeur's ideas on narrative, the importance and relationship of history and fiction, the ideas of prefiguration, configuration, and refiguration, and the hermeneutical circle between narratives and life into very accessible language.
The concluding chapter, After Ricoeur, highlights some key areas of development in relation to other thinkers, as well as points of possible exploration for the reader. Ricoeur's thought vis-à-vis Derrida (particularly with regard to metaphor), his thought with regard to Heidegger (especially his response to the idea of 'language being the master of man'), and his ideas as they apply to the reading of the Bible appropriately continue to challenge thinkers, and insure Ricoeur remaining a relevant figure in intellectual development.
As do the other volumes in this series, Simms concludes with an annotated bibliography of works by Ricoeur, works on Ricoeur, and even a video and website reference.
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