Abstract

Paul Ricoeur, a major philosopher whose works influence the contemporary theological scene, has from the earliest day of his career addressed the elements germane to the integral link between social justice and the preaching of the Gospel. Each stage of development in Ricoeur's thought embodies important contributions to the liaison between eschatology as the vehicle of liberative hope and social action. ;Ricoeur's mature theory of narrative, time, and metaphoric imagination applied to the interpretation of scripture culminates his lifelong philosophical project to articulate a "poetics of the will." Such a poetics frees humanity from its bonds and gives rise to hope. Ricoeur's poetics of the will is achieved through a hermeneutical methodology directly incorporating the Judeo-christian scriptures within the scope of his philosophical anthropology. This anthropology grounds his social theory. The social institutions of economics, politics, and culture together with narrative serve to structure desire, promote the mutuality of freedom, and foster the "analogy of the ego." Furthermore, Ricoeur's anthropology set out in the early work, Fallible Man, resonates directly with the salvific meaning of the scriptures. The christology of Jesus as the Suffering Son of Man addresses all aspects of human liberation. Significantly, eschatological hope makes freedom possible in the face of radical evil. ;This dissertation is concerned with four major aspects of Ricoeur's correlation between the interpretation of scripture and the promotion of human freedom. The first chapter identifies the salient features of Ricoeur's approach to philosophy which are evidenced throughout his corpus. Importantly, it sets out the characteristics of the "originary affirmation" which is determinative for each advance toward the poetics of the will. Chapter two delineates the Ricoeur's treatment of the relationship between action and language. It demonstrates that his mature theory of narrative, time, and metaphoric imagination establishes a poetics of action. Chapter three examines his multi-faceted approach to social issues. Chapter four presents his eschatology which takes shape within specific social-political concerns and extends to comprise the horizon of the world projected by the biblical text. Chapter five provides a summary, evaluation, and critique