Předměty

The Philosophy Seminar 1 focuses on detailed lecture of chosen fundamental texts of the classical, Christian and modern
philosophy.
Winter Term 2025/26: The seminar starts 23rd October 2025 due to the absence of the teacher. Thank you for your understanding.
Philosophical Hermeneutics: Paul Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory
The French philosopher Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) is best known for combining phenomenological description with hermeneutics, especially for extending the study of textual interpretation to the areas of mythology, biblical exegesis, psychoanalysis, metaphor theory, and narrative theory. His major works include: Philosophy of the Will (1950), Symbolism of Evil (1960), Freud and Philosophy: An Essay on Interpretation (1965), The Rule of Metaphor (1975), Time and Narrative (1983-1985), Oneself as Another (1990), Memory, History, Forgetting (2000). Ricoeur came from a family of devout Huguenots, making him one of the most interesting Protestant philosophers of the 20th century.

The book Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning (1973) read in the seminar is based upon the lectures delivered by Paul Ricoeur at Texas Christian University in 1973. In four essays, it offers step by step approximations of a solution to a single problem, that of understanding language at the level of such productions as poems, narratives, and essays, whether literary or philosophical: 1. Language as Discourse; 2. Speaking and Writing; 3. Metaphor and Symbol; 4. Explanation and Understanding.

The texts “Existence and Hermeneutics” and “Structure, Word, Event” in their English version were published in the anthology by Ch. E. Reagan and D. Stewart, The Philosophy of Paul Ricœur: An Anthology of His Work (1978).

Credits can be earned for regular active participation in the course (max. 3 absences) and for a paper presented at the seminar and submitted in written form at the end of the course.

The written paper is expected to be appropriately titled, to formulate its question in the introduction and to state the method used. The exposition is divided into chapters with appropriate headings and the conclusion summarises the results. Make sure that the list of the literature used is not missing and both the sources and literature are referred to continuously in the notes.

Moodle: https://moodle.etf.cuni.cz/moodle/course/view.php?id=1073
key: hermeneutics

Texts read at the seminar:
• Paul Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning, Fort Worth, Tex.: Texas Christian University Press 1976.
• Paul Ricœur, “Existence and Hermeneutics” and “Structure, Word, Event”, in: The Philosophy of Paul Ricœur: An Anthology of His Work, ed. Charles E. Reagan – David Stewart, Boston: Beacon Press 1978.

Further literature:
• Jean Grondin, Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics, transl. Joel Weinsheimer, Yale University Press 1994 (Heidegger 91-102).
• Paul Ricœur, The Philosophy of Paul Ricœur: An Anthology of His Work, ed. Charles E. Reagan – David Stewart, Boston: Beacon Press 1978.
• David Wood (ed.), On Paul Ricoeur: Narrative and Interpretation, New York: Routledge 1991.

Poslední úprava: KARFIKOVAL (08.10.2025)