Normative Creativity in Paul Ricœur

Abstract

In this paper, I would like to show in what sense the theme of creativity is integral to Ricoeur’s ethical thought. I will attempt to defend the thesis that, according to him, creativity is not just one human capacity, but a capacity the usage of which is requisite: in order to “act with and for others in just institutions”, actors must continually create and re-create collective norms. Firstly, I will examine what Ricoeur calls his petite éthique in order to expound its injunction of normative creation. Secondly, I will show that, for Ricoeur, if actors are called to engage in this kind of creativity, they can end up being deaf to this summons, due to their own fallibility. However, Ricoeur’s philosophy does not amount to a form of unhappy consciousness. Thus, in the final section, I will attempt to show that his anthropology of l’homme capable enables us to conceive how actors, moving beyond their fallibility, may reveal and transform their capacity to act in the world as a creative power.