From Text to Action

by Paul Ricoeur

Published 30 September 1991
Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Chicago and the University of Paris X, Nanterre, and a leading figure in twentieth-century French philosophy.
From Text to Action provides an invaluable companion to Ricoeur's classic text, The Conflict of Interpretations. Here he further develops his general theory of interpretation in relation to his own philosophical background and influences: Hegel, Husserl, Gadamer and Weber. This is a hugely important work from a key figure in contemporary philosophy that will be of interest to those starting out in the field of hermeneutics, as well as those already familiar with Ricoeur's work.

This collection brings together twenty-two essays by Paul Ricoeur under the topics of structuralism, psychoanalysis, hermeneutics, and religion. In dramatic conciseness, the essays illuminate the work of one of the leading philosophers of the day. Those interested in Ricoeur's development of the philosophy of language will find rich and suggestive reading. But the diversity of essays also speaks beyond the confines of philosophy to linguists, theologians, psychologists, and psychoanalysts.