Review by Choice Review
Kearney (Boston College) was a student of Ricoeur's, a colleague, and one of Ricoeur's closest friends. He does a beautiful job of explaining many of the key concepts, transitions, and conclusions of Ricoeur's philosophy. The book has six independent studies: "Between Phenomenology and Hermeneutics," "Between Imagination and Language," "Between Myth and Tradition," "Between Ideology and Utopia," "Between Good and Evil," and "Between Poetics and Ethics." The clarity of the author's treatment of Ricoeur's transition from Husserlian phenomenology to hermeneutics, passing through the interpretation of religious and psychoanalytic symbols, is representative of the explanatory strength of the whole book. The second half consists of five "dialogues" between the author and Paul Ricoeur. These dialogues are focused on particular topics such as "Myth as the Bearer of Possible Worlds" and "The Creativity of Language." The dialogues benefit from the author's understanding of the corpus of Ricoeur's work and from the deep friendship that shows through the philosophical discussion. Clearly one of the very best explanations of Ricoeur's work, this book should be required reading for graduate students interested in the work of one of France's most prominent philosophers. Advanced undergraduates will benefit from it too. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above. C. E. Reagan Kansas State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
