Abstract

“Discourse, Metaphysics and Hermeneutics of the Self” deals with the connection between the hermeneutics of the self, as constituted in the ethical-anthropological framework of _Oneself as Another_ (1990), and Ricoeur’s conception of a metaphysics of human agency as developed within this period of his work. It relates to his inquiries in the fields of ontology and metaphysics, from the lectures entitled _Être, essence et substance chez Platon et Aristote_ (1953-1954) – translated as _Being, Essence and Substance in Plato and Aristotle_ (2013) –, up to “De la métaphysique à la morale” (1993) published in the _Revue de métaphysique et de morale _– translated into English as “From Metaphysics to Moral Philosophy” (1996) –, via the article “Ontologie” (1972) for _Encyclopaedia Universalis_, the last chapter of _The Rule of Metaphor_ (1975), and the first section of the conclusions to the third volume of _Time and Narrative_ (1985). Ricœur aims at determining a specific kind of philosophical discourse as a common ground for the perspectives stemming from a hermeneutic phenomenology and from a more speculative ontological-metaphysical research.