Paul Ricoeur

Book excerpt: Reagan combines different genres to supplement and enhance the central biographical essay. A personal memoir recalls the turbulent student protests of the 1960s and Ricoeur's controversial resignation as head of the faculties at the University of Paris-Nanterre. A penetrating philosophical exposition draws together the essential themes of Ricoeur's philosophical anthropology. And a collection of four substantive interviews offers privileged access to Ricoeur's own remarkably clear explication of his most challenging and stimulating ideas. The result of this innovative mix of genres is a multidimensional and astonishingly perceptive portrait of a seminal philosopher's life and work.