The 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 the symbolics of evil that resonate with current topics in contemporary philosophy and religion.
Scott Davidson is professor of philosophy at West Virginia University.
Introduction to The Symbolism of Evil Scott Davidson Part I: Reflections on Evil and Its Primary Symbols Chapter 1: The Question of Evil Jerome Poree Chapter 2: The Ambiguity of Flesh Adam J. Graves Chapter 3: Ricoeur's Phenomenological Hermeneutics of Sin Marc-Antoine Vallee 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 Naivete? 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 Naivete B. Keith Putt About the Contributors
"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 "Ricoeur 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 Ricoeurian hermeneutics of the symbols and myths of evil. " -- Jean-Luc Amalric, Etudes Ricoeuriennes/Ricoeur Studies
