Toward a working theory of language correlated with a philosophical anthropology

pp. 113-133

in: David Rasmussen, Mythic-symbolic language and philosophical anthropology, Berlin, Springer, 1971

Abstract

Ricoeur's distinctive mode of philosophizing may capture the imagination of a philosophical generation. Its significance will depend upon the person who examines it. To the phenomenologist, the significance of Ricoeur's thought will be found in his revision of the phenomenological method. To the analytic thinker, the measure of Ricoeur's work may be in his plunge into an analysis of language. The structuralist may find the significance of Ricoeur's thought in his attempt to reconsider the relationship of language and speech. The hermeneut may find the measure of Ricoeur's achievement in his attempt to incorporate a hermeneutic into a philosophical program. To those who are interested in myth and symbolism, the significance of Ricoeur's thought may be found in his distinctive mode of interpretation of that primary phenomenon. As the introduction of this essay stated, Ricoeur's thought, like the symbol, is multivalent. Our analysis simply has attempted to bring these multivalent themes together and thereby to understand its unity and direction.