"As if" and the Surplus of Being in Ricoeur's Poetics

Authors

  • Timo Helenius Boston College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/errs.2012.113

Keywords:

poetics, ontology, polysemy, metaphor

Abstract

Based on the double character of “as if,” it is argued in this paper that “the surplus of meaning” turns out to be “the surplus of being,” which reveals a human being who interprets his or her own being and also acknowledges this being as be-ing at the same time. In this article, 1) the notion of “as if” is retrieved from Ricoeur’s early work in relation to the “poetics of being” aspired to by him. This leads us to 2) examine the relation between the “semantic surplus” and the “becoming of being.” 3) Addressing the problem of metaphorical reference, the key philosophical problem of poetics, is, therefore, inevitable. Only after this analysis will we 4) be able to consider whether there is a kind of “poetics of being” in the work of Paul Ricoeur.

 

Author Biography

Timo Helenius, Boston College

Timo Helenius, Boston College, USA.

Doctoral Candidate at Boston College Philosophy Department. Published in hermeneutics, philosophy of religion, environmental ethics, and ecotheology. Currently working on a project on Ricoeur’s cultural hermeneutics with a three year grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

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Published

2012-12-14

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2012)

Section

Varia

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