Ricoeur and Castoriadis in Discussion: On Human Creation, Historical Novelty, and the Social Imaginary

Description

This book features a highly significant discussion between Paul Ricoeur and Cornelius Castoriadis. Recorded for Radio France (Culture) in 1985, it is the only known encounter between these two great philosophers of the imagination. Their wide ranging conversation covers such themes as the productive imagination, human creation, social imaginaries, and the possibility of historical novelty; it reveals points of surprising commonality as well as divergence in their approaches. The dialogue is supplemented by critical essays by specialist scholars in Castoriadis and Ricoeur studies, and includes contributions from Johann P. Arnason, George H. Taylor, François Dosse, Johann Michel, Jean-Luc Amalric, and Suzi Adams. The book is a must read for all scholars interested in Ricoeur and Castoriadis studies, as well as those interested in debates on the possibilities and limits of human creation, and the importance of the imagination for social change. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Table of contents Acknowledgements Editor’s Foreword Note to the French Edition Preface: Situating Castoriadis and Ricoeur Preface to the French Edition Notes References Part I Ricoeur and Castoriadis Radio Dialogue Chapter One Dialogue on History and the Social Imaginary Notes References Part II Essays Chapter Two On the Cusp: Ricoeur and Castoriadis at the Boundary The Primordiality of the Social Imaginary The Differentiation Between Productive and Creative Imagination Castoriadis Ricoeur The Creative Imagination and The Imaginary Ex Nihilo Ricoeur Castoriadis Notes References Chapter Three Castoriadis and Ricoeur on Meaning and History: Contrasts and Convergences Setting The Scene From Production to Institution Confronting Structuralism Creativity in Context Continuity and Discontinuity Imaginary Significations and Historical Processes Notes References Chapter Four Ricoeur and Castoriadis: The Productive Imagination between Mediation and Origin The Philosophical Context of The Dialogue: A Common Defence of The Practical Power of Productive Imagination Creation, Production, and Institution: A Converging Critique of Structuralism Beyond The Terminological Dispute Productive Imagination: Between Origin and Mediation, Creation and Retroaction Notes References Chapter Five Castoriadis and Ricoeur on the Hermeneutic Spiral and the Meaning of History: Creation, Interpretation, Critique Much Ado About ‘Nothing’: Creation or Production? History, Tradition, and The Hermeneutic Spiral Castoriadis Ricoeur Conclusions and Beginnings: Traversing The Hermeneutic Spiral Anew Acknowledgement Notes References Chapter Six The Social Imaginary as Engine of History in Ricoeur and Castoriadis Dual Discontent Regarding Inherited Thought About The Imaginary The Living Imagination in Paul Ricoeur The Imaginary Between Chaos and Institution in Castoriadis’s Works A Real Proximity Between Ricoeur and Castoriadis Notes References Biographical Notes on Paul Ricoeur and Cornelius Castoriadis Paul Ricoeur (1913–2005) References Cornelius Castoriadis (1922–1997) References Index About the Contributors