Ritið : tímarit Hugvísindastofnunar - 01.05.2008, Síða 159

SMALAKROKAR
ABSTRACT
Ricœur on Identities and Self-Consciousness
The theme of the article is Ricœur’s ideas of self-consciousness and Self. I
start by introducing his older theories of the cogito as not being a master
of its domain but nevertheless something real, something permeated by
language and culture. Therefore, it can only be understood through inter-
pretation of language and cultural texts. Then I turn to his later analysis
of Selves, not least his differentiation between idem (sameness) and ipse
(selfhood) and the role narratives play in the interaction between the two.
The last section of the article contains my critical evaluation of Ricœur’s
theories. I agree with the general thrust of his argument, his contention
that the Self is permeated by language and culture and that narratives
provide necessary, but not also sufficient conditions for the existence of
Selves. I also find the differentiation between ipse and idem fruitful. But I
criticise him for a hidden mental philosophical tendency in this treatment
of the nature of self-consciousness, a tendency that can be overcome with
aid of such thinkers as Wittgenstein and Hintikka. Secondly, I criticise
him for talking like there is only tension between concordance and dis-
cordance in Selves. Thirdly, I am critical of his attempt to ground the
difference between ipse and idem in the difference between the pragmatics
and semantics of language. Fourthly, I ask how we can know that narrati-
ves can refigure a person’s identity as the French thinker claims. Fifthly, I
express doubts that narratives are our basic tools for unifying the various
aspects of existence. Why not metaphors? I actually claim that Ricœur
has a metaphoric view of the Self at the tip of his tongue. That view can
be explicated with the aid of such thinkers as George Lakoff and Mark
Johnson. My conclusion is that while narratives constitute the temporal
side of the Self, metaphors constitute its non-temporal, “spatial” side.
Keywords: Ricœur, Self, Self-consciousness, narratives, metaphors
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