Ricoeur and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion

248 Pages·2009·1.4 MB·English

by  Alison Scott-Baumann

Ricœur and the Hermeneutics
of Suspicion
Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy
Series Editor: James Fieser, University of Tennessee at Martin, USA
Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy is a major monograph series from
Continuum. The series features fi rst-class scholarly research monographs
across the fi eld of Continental philosophy. Each work makes a major
contribution to the fi eld of philosophical research.
Adorno’s Concept of Life, Alastair Morgan
Adorno’s Poetics of Critique, Steven Helmling
Badiou, Marion and St Paul, Adam Miller
Being and Number in Heidegger’s Thought, Michael Roubach
The Crisis in Continental Philosophy, Robert Piercey
Deleuze and Guattari, Fadi Abou-Rihan
Deleuze and Ricœur, Declan Sheerin
Deleuze and the Genesis of Representation, Joe Hughes
Deleuze and the Unconscious, Christian Kerslake
Deleuze, Guattari and the Production of the New, edited by Simon O’Sullivan and
Stephen Zepke
Derrida, Simon Morgan Wortham
Derrida and Disinterest, Sean Gaston
The Domestication of Derrida, Lorenzo Fabbri
Encountering Derrida, edited by Simon Morgan Wortham and Allison Weiner
Gadamer and the Question of the Divine, Walter Lammi
Heidegger and a Metaphysics of Feeling, Sharin N. Elkholy
Heidegger and Philosophical Atheology, Peter S. Dillard
Heidegger on Language and Death, Joachim L. Oberst
Heidegger, Politics and Climate Change, Ruth Irwin
Heidegger’s Early Philosophy, James Luchte
The Irony of Heidegger, Andrew Haas
Levinas and Camus, Tal Sessler
Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology, Kirk M. Besmer
Nietzsche’s Ethical Theory, Craig Dove
Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, edited by James Luchte
Ricœur and Lacan, Karl Simms
Ricœur and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion, Alison Scott-Baumann
Who’s Afraid of Deleuze and Guattari? Gregg Lambert
Žižek and Heidegger, Thomas Brockelman
Ricœur and the Hermeneutics
of Suspicion
Alison Scott-Baumann
Continuum International Publishing Group
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© Alison Scott-Baumann 2009
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-8470-6188-1
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Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain by the MPG Books Group
For my husband Mike,
and our children
Lizzie and James, and
in memory of my wonderful parents
Scottie and Francis
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Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Abbreviations and bibliographic note ix
Introduction 1
1 Cartesian doubt 7
2 Ricœur’s hermeneutics I: the archaeology of suspicion 22
3 Ricœur’s masters of suspicion: Marx, Nietzsche and Freud 40
4 On the use and abuse of the term ‘hermeneutics of suspicion’ 59
5 Ricœur’s hermeneutics II: the theory of interpretation 78
6 Linguistic analysis 97
7 Methodological dialectics 115
8 Philosophical anthropology 135
9 Ricœur’s hermeneutics III: recovery 153
10 Conclusion 170
Notes 185
Bibliography 217
Index 225
Acknowledgements
This book was made possible by Mike, Lizzie and James. I have also received
detailed advice and support from colleagues and friends who have been
extremely generous with their ideas and their time as expert readers: in the
early stages, Chris Norris, Karl Simms and Stephen Clark, then later Manuel
Barbeito, Stephen H. Clark, Stevie and James Coutts, Harry Cowen, Catherine
Goldenstein, Don Ihde, John Lotherington, Mireille Delbraccio, Chris Norris
and Elizabeth Scott-Baumann. Robert Fisk read Chapter 9 and gave his special-
ist input as eyewitness reporter and Middle East analyst. I have benefi ted con-
siderably from conversations about Ricœur with David Pellauer and with
Richard Kearney in Paris and Chicago.
Catherine Goldenstein, Fonds Ricœur archivist, is immensely knowledgeable
and supportive and I am very grateful for her support and for that of Olivier
Abel, with their vision of Ricœur studies in the future. Olivier has been encour-
aging me with this work since 2004, when I started visiting the Institut Protes-
tant de Théologie, to attend seminars on Ricœur’s work. Mireille Delbraccio
has inspired me and given me some new perspectives on my writing. With
Nicola Stricker, as well as intellectual support, I have enjoyed speaking German
as well as French; and I have enjoyed discussions with Pamela Anderson about
Ricœur. In November 2007 I visited Eileen Brennan and Angelo Bottone in
Dublin to talk about Ricœur and translation. Both my goddaughter Theodora
James and Stevie Coutts help me with translation work.
The University of Gloucestershire has given me travel bursaries that enabled
me to attend the Ricœur conference in Chicago in 2007 and visit the Fonds
Ricœur in Paris in 2008. Finally I wish to thank the editorial team at Continuum
Newgen, especially Murali, Bhavana Nair, Josh Paul and Ajith Salvankar for
their unfailing support and attention to detail.
Abbreviations and bibliographic note
I have put two dates in the brackets for Ricœur’s translated books/papers;
the year of fi rst publication in French followed by the year of publication in
English, except for exceptions e.g. Love and Justice has been published many
times, fi rst in German. I cite it in Kearney’s The Hermeneutics of Action and the
latest French version, published according to Ricœur’s wishes. Vansina’s 2008
bibliography is the most comprehensive, especially for tracking the many differ-
ent sites, languages and dates of publication. For Ricœur texts that occur
frequently I have provided an abbreviation e.g. Freedom and Nature: FAN. In the
book itself I reference dates and supporting texts that I believe to be worth
noting: this is by no means exhaustive, given the great range of Ricœur’s knowl-
edge. I have used the Fonds Ricœur system in the bibliography section on
manuscripts.
A Key to Edmund Husserl’s Ideas 1950/1996 (originally published with Ricœur’s
translation into French of Husserl’s Ideen, a text I refer to but do not use).
Philosophy of the Will 1
FAN The Voluntary and the Involuntary: Freedom and Nature 1950/1966
Philosophy of the Will 2
FM Finitude and Culpability: Fallible Man 1960/1965
SOE Finitude and Culpability: The Symbolism of Evil 1960/ 1967
HAT History and Truth 1955/1965
FAP Freud and Philosophy: An Essay on Interpretation 1965/1970
HAP Husserl. An Analysis of His Phenomenology English 1967, essays pub-
lished separately in French 1949–1957
COI The Confl ict of Interpretations: Essays in Hermeneutics 1969/1974
PASE Political and Social Essays, essays published separately in French
1956–1973
BH Biblical Hermeneutics 1975
IT Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning 1976,
English only