Abstract

Paul Ricoeur’s philosophical work expresses a well defined speculative methodology. By ‘extracting’ this methodology from his philosophy it is possible to profile the model of a critical hermeneutics, that is a theoretical and speculative procedure able to work in a general, independent and original way. The essential methodological and epistemological structure of this philosophical and procedural approach lies in Ricoeur’s arc herméneutique theory; and Ricoeur’s speculative work itself offers several examples of its availability and strength – from the reinterpretation of Freud’s psychoanalysis to the work around dilemmas concerning historical knowledge and historiography, from studies on human and social sciences to anthropological philosophy, and beyond. Starting from the analysis of critical hermeneutics’ structure and its connections with Ricoeur’s philosophy, the Author wants to demonstrate why and in which manner critical hermeneutics can constitutes a significant and productive way for today and tomorrow’s philosophical and scientific research.