La métaphore vive by Paul Ricoeur, and: Political and Social Essays by Paul Ricoeur, and: La Vocation de la Liberté dans La Philosophie de Paul Ricoeur by Rosaire Bergeron, S. C. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 297 grees to produce contemporary statements of sacramental theology which have been favorably received at a scholarly as well as a popular level. What emerges, then, towards the end of this long project is a fascicle which presents the Common Doctor to the twentieth-century scholar and beginner student in a highly readable English translation alongside the Latin text. There is a sufficient amount of historical background with a minimum of editorial comment. Taken by itself separately from the Summa series, this work is a valuable tool for sacramental theology. The glossary of technical terms is useful for those who are unfamiliar with St. Thomas. Dominican House of Studies Washmgton, D. o. JOHN MATTHEW DONAHUE, o.P. Paul Ricoeur, La metaphore vive. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1975. Paul Ricoeur, Political and Social Essays (ed. by David Stewart and Joseph Bien) , Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1974. Rosaire Bergeron, S. C., La Vocation de la Liberti dans La Philosophie de Paul Ricoeur, Montreal: Les Editions Bellarmine, 1974. Paul Ricoeur's philosophical production is now of such scope and influence as to call forth successive assessments and new collections. It is not, however , as if Ricoeur had reached a plateau for retrospection; he continues to progress towards the last volume of his early project, the " Philosophy of the Will "-viz., the long-awaited "Poetics of the Good." Intervening volumes such as Freud and Philosophy and Conflict of Interpretations may seem to have wandered somewhat from this path, but are, in fact, necessary way stations permitting Ricoeur intensive scrutiny of new questions without basically distracting him from the overall end-in-view. Such a framework may be helpful in locating these two recent publications since both of them reflect various stages and diverse issues in Ricoeur's work, and yet reveal a unifying perspective. The writings in Political and Social Essays span three decades and cover a number of themes that have been central to his main concerns. These concerns, Ricoeur states in his foreword, are global ones, relating to the conditions of modern man as he moves tentatively toward a world civilization. Within this general relevance, although some are slightly dated, these essays speak eloquently to perduring questions; e. g., " From Marxism to Contemporary Communism" (1959) reflects cold war issues, yet has a clear bearing on current efforts to sort out the valid from the invalid aspects of Marxist 298 BOOK REVIEWS theory, Ricoeur stressing " trafficking with violence " as a form of "ideology." A companion essay on" Socialism Today" builds an eloquent case for a socialist ethos that transcends sheer economics and stresses democratic management and humanistic culture. Other essays address such diverse themes as the meaning of humanism, Skinner's rejection of freedom, violence and language, faith and culture, urbanization and secularization. The opening essay, "Nature and Freedom ," is especially interesting as an amplification of some themes from Ricoeur's first book, especially of freedom as " second nature," as habituation permitting mediation rather than opposition between the voluntary and the involuntary. The last essay, "The Tasks of the Political Educator ," reveals the practical sagacity of Ricoeur's assessment of higher education as fulfilling the need of the cultural personality for integration on the three levels of " industries, institutions and values." But perhaps the most significant article in the book is the most recent one, " Ethics and Culture," with its proposal of a hermeneutic approach to ethics in terms of " distanciation " and " appropriation " as correlated with traditional and innovative approaches to value. Properly to assess this article, I believe, it is necessary to recognize its deliberately programmatic character and thus see in it the movement of Ricoeur's thought building towards his " poetics of the good." It is noteworthy then how value remains the governing concept in his ethical reflections despite reservations about the concept of value expressed in earlier works. Indeed, in one passage, Ricoeur suggests another look at Scheler's hierarchy of value modalities, but with fundamental qualifications: quite differently from Scheler, Ricoeur places emphasis on value change or " transvaluation " as a continuous and conscious process analogous to hermeneutic reinterpretation. The reconciliation of Gadamer and Habermas that Ricoeur undertakes in this context provides a model for the continuing...