Modernity, decolonization, cultural plurality. Ricoeur’s socio-political thought

This project is situated in the current of steadily increasing scholarship on the social theoretic and political philosophical dimensions of Ricoeur’s hermeneutics. It is demarcated from other approaches by a specific set of interpretative assumptions. First, Ricoeur’s work has to be studied, starting from the early essays of the 1930s. Second, Ricoeur’s entire work has to be studied: the apparent free-standing articles and chapters have to be considered as equally reflective of his thought as his monographs. Third, the themes of his major monographs cannot be assumed to capture his philosophical intentions – the apparent “peripheral” publications may well articulate stakes that are of equal importance to his work and contribute to the way in which his “central” contributions to hermeneutics took shape. Focusing on Ricoeur’s socio-political thought in this way will shed a different light on his oeuvre, in particular from the perspective of his understanding of modernity, decolonization and global cultural plurality. This in turn will help to amplify his contemporary relevance to debates on democracy, cultural plurality, globalization, etc.

Keywords:modernity

Disciplines:Philosophy