Description
Book SynopsisThe Symbolism of Evil is the final book in Ricoeur's early trilogy on the will. While Freedom and Nature sets aside normative questions altogether and Fallible Man examines the question of what makes the bad will possible, here Ricoeur takes up the question of evil in its actuality. What is the nature of the will that has succumbed to evil? The question of evil resists reflection and remains inscrutable, leading Ricoeur to proceed indirectly through a study of the abundant resources contained in symbols and myths. Symbols, as Ricoeur famously says, give rise to thought and thereby open up a field of meanings which help to inform a philosophical reflection on evil. This hermeneutics of symbols signals an important shift in Ricoeur's philosophical trajectory, which increasingly turns to language and the various forms of discourse which harbor multiple meanings. The contributors to this volume, edited by Scott Davidson, highlight a wide range of important themes in Ricoeur's treatment of
Trade Review"This companion to Ricoeur's Symbolism of Evil addresses the radical implications of his famous 'hermeneutic turn' in the 1960s. Editor, Scott Davidson, does an excellent job bringing together expert critical commentaries from both the first and second generation of Ricoeur scholars. It is a very welcome addition to the growing hermeneutic conversation." -- Richard Kearney, Boston College
"Ricœur has always considered the disconcerting and scandalous experience of evil as the "richest source of interrogative thought" and for this reason the question of evil occupies a central place within his whole work. In this third and last volume devoted to the Philosophy of the Will, Scott Davidson has assembled a very rich collection of chapters that highlight the significance and the profound originality of the Ricœurian hermeneutics of the symbols and myths of evil. "
-- Jean-Luc Amalric, Etudes Ricœuriennes/Ricœur Studies
Table of ContentsIntroduction to The Symbolism of Evil
Scott Davidson
Part I: Reflections on Evil and Its Primary Symbols
Chapter 1: The Question of Evil
Jérôme Porée
Chapter 2: The Ambiguity of Flesh
Adam J. Graves
Chapter 3: Ricoeur’s Phenomenological Hermeneutics of Sin
Marc-Antoine Vallée
Chapter 4: On the Servile Will
Daniel Frey
Part II: The Secondary Symbolics of Evil: Religious Ritual, Metaphor, and Myth
Chapter 5: Why Religious Symbols? Accounting for an Unfashionable Approach
Petruschka Schaafsma
Chapter 6: Wagering for a Second Naïveté? Tensions in Ricoeur’s Account of the
Symbolism of Evil
Christina M. Gschwandtner
Chapter 7: Between Barth and Eliade: Ricoeur’s Mediation of the Word and the Sacred
Brian Gregor
Chapter 8: Metaphor as Dynamic Myth in Ricoeur
Colby Dickinson
Chapter 9: Salvation as Knowledge: Ricoeur’s Reading of Plato
Scott Davidson
Part III: What Does the Symbol Give?
Chapter 10: The Symbol Gives Rise to Race
Nathan D. Pederson
Chapter 11: The Symbol Gives Rise to Theology: A Poetics of Theology
Dan R. Stiver
Chapter 12: The Symbol Gives Rise to Faith (Perhaps): Theopoetics and the Gift of a Second Naiveté
B. Keith Putt
About the Contributors
