The Troublemaker as a Non-intentional Social Activist: A Critical Discussion of the Political Relevance of Paul Ricœur’s Philosophical and Theological Thinking

There is a tension in Ricœur’s thinking between the undeniable presence of violence and his trust in a primordial goodness of existence. This tension is linked to Ricœur’s understanding of the human being as ambiguous and fragile, torn between freedom and nature, as well as between the voluntary and involuntary dimensions of human action. By analysing articles from the first decades after the Second World War, and especially Ricœur’s discussion of prophetical troublemaking through nonviolence, voluntary poverty, and art, and comparing these to some of Ricœur’s later writings, the essay critically discusses the role Ricœur assigns to non-intentional social activism. The author argues that the non-intentional and intentional dimensions of human action need to be kept in a fruitful critical tension with each other, to prevent an understanding of human existence as primarily tragic and passive. The gap separating ideals from the experienced reality, may, in line with Ricœur’s own intentions, be considered a space both for mourning of a lost innocence, and for hopeful visions guiding the struggle for a better and more just world.