While I continue to read the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer it seems time to add Paul Ricoeur to the discussion. For those familiar with Ricoeur please advise me. Where would you say a new reader should begin reading Ricoeur as concerns hermeneutics, specifically?
I’d like to purchase something this week sometime. Your insights are welcome!
the archives near Emmaus 
Let me ask my friend (professor) Dan Stivers. I will get back to you.
Hey Brian,
I would recommend that you begin with Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences. I’ve been reading through portions of his work over the past year, and this one I think is a great place to start.
Another good resource, though not exclusively Ricoeur, is Hermeneutics Reader.
@Rod: Thanks!
@James: Those book look really, really awesome. I have a $50.00 budget so I think I may be able to slip both of those in.
Well, if I get them used I mean!
I began with Interpretation Theory, but the above mentioned work really well.
@JohnDave: Thanks, I will look for that one.
I think Oneself as Another is a good’un. Also, Kevin Vanhoozer’s book on Ricoeur is a useful introduction – it was his dissertation.
@Matthew: I’d like to read Vanhoozer’s take on Ricoeur. I am working through The Drama of Doctrine right now. Is Oneself as Another hermeneutics specific?
@James: I bought Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences last night.
Oneself as Another is described as a “hermeneutics of the self” – it argues for a narrative understanding of self & reality, and thus relates interpretation to the narrative question “who?” rather than the analytical question “what?”
@Matthew: That sounds like a good read. I will add it to my list of future Ricoeur books!
From Dr. Stiver via facebook:
Here’s a few suggestions. Many start with Interpretation Theory. I like the essay “The Model of the Text,” in Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences or From Text to Action. These especially cover metaphor. For his earlier work on symbolism, th…e two essays The Hermeneutics of Symbols I and II” in The Conflict of Interpretations are really rich, as is “Existence and Hermeneutics” in that volume. “Freedom in the Light of Hope” in that volume as well as in Essays on Biblical Interpretation shows how he relates philosophy to religion. Studies 5-9 in Oneself as Another on narrative identity and on his integration of Kant and Aristotle in ethics reflects his later work.
@Rod: Awesome, thanks! I am gathering from Matthew’s comments above and this one here that Oneself as Another is going to be a necessary text for understanding Ricoeur.
Hi,
I’m look forward to some one who can helps me to work on “literature face ” of Riceour, I’m PHD in French literature and want to work on his theories in literature and linguistic.
Hope to hear from you.