Paul Ricoeur and the Task of Political Philosophy by Johnson Greg S.;Stiver Dan R.;

Author:Johnson, Greg S.;Stiver, Dan R.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Ricoeur interprets the reciprocal ceremonial gift analyzed by Hénaff as a symbolic mutual recognition. The thing given and then given in return symbolizes the relation of mutual recognition. He adds that this form of recognition “does not recognize itself, to the extent that it is more invested in the gesture than in the words that accompany it. It can only do so by symbolizing itself in the gift.” (Ricoeur 2005, 236).

Ricoeur appropriates this conception of the reciprocal ceremonial gift as symbolic mutual recognition by linking it to the concept of agape, a unilateral gift without the expectation of return. He therefore claims the following: “dans le cadre de l’interprétation du don cérémoniel en termes de reconnaissance mutuelle symbolique par la chose donnée, ne peut-on intégrer le moment du don sans retour, comme appel à une générosité similaire?” (Ricoeur 2004a, 44).[10] The first gift, a risk-taking which starts the whole process of the exchange of gifts, must be understood through the model of agape, as giving without expectation of return. According to Ricoeur, only the excess of this generous, unilateral gift is able to initiate the process of gift and gift in return. The generosity of this gift would not then lead to an obligation to give in return,[11] which “would, properly speaking, mean annulling the first gift,” (Ricoeur 2005, 242), but would rather lead to “a response to a call coming from the generosity of the first gift.” (Ricoeur 2005, 243). For Ricoeur, the gift in return, rather than restituting the first gift, must also be conceived through the model of the gift as a form of agape; the second gift must be thought of “as a kind of second first gift.” (Ricoeur 2005, 242).

The unilateral generous gift as a form of agape is that which protects “the good side of this actual experience of mutual recognition.” (Ricoeur 2005, 241). It would seem that, for Ricoeur, without the excess of the gift as a form of agape, symbolic mutual recognition would be impossible. For him, the exchange of gifts is always in the risk of being corrupted, of really being the form of a disguised market economy. He discusses the critical function of the unilaterality of agape as that which permits us to separate authentic experiences of mutual recognition from forms of gift exchange motivated by hidden interests and which tend to level out all the exchange of generous, excessive gifts by reducing them to the logic of monetary equivalence.

We began this section by pointing out the fundamental tension that runs through Ricoeurian ethics: the aim of a good life is in excess in relation with what moral norms actually permit us to achieve. Or, to put it differently, recognition is an ideal which guides the struggle for recognition, but which can never be fully achieved. The struggle for recognition is interminable. However, Ricoeurian ethics does not conclude with the form of an unhappy consciousness marked by fatalism and despair. For Ricoeur, the actors of the struggle for recognition can

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