Responsibility to struggle – responsibility for peace : course of recognition and a recurrent pattern in Ricoeur's political thought

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present a perspective on Ricœur's ethico-political thought in Course of Recognition and, by extension, on that of his entire work. The point of departure is the hypothesis that Ricœur's (singular) reading of Weber on political responsibility provides one with an invaluable vantage point from where to identify a recurrent pattern in the French philosopher's ethico-political thought. After a brief presentation and illustration of this hypothesis a close reading, principally of study III of Course of Recognition, is offered. This reading affirms the hypothesis. It also allows a number of conclusions regarding the continuities, or a trait of 'narrative identity' in Ricœur's ethico-political thought. This in turn enables one to better identify the stakes and objectives of Ricœur's argument in the selected text and to qualify the relation this may be considered to have to his religious convictions.