Sara_Fernandes_Paul Ricoeur's philosophy of personal identity - Cópia.pdf

In this paper, we clarify Paul Ricoeur’s philosophy of identity, and we sustain that it should be considered a turning point in the discussion of the problem of personal identity. We give reasons to reject the Anglo-Saxon approach: it neglects real people, it is focused on puzzle cases, it is lost in imaginary paradoxes and the search for an objective criterion. Defending Ricoeur’s hermeneutic philosophy, especially his dialectical concepts (sameness and ipseity), as well as its narrative and ethical development, we highlight how the philosopher is concerned with human beings as we know them, and personal identity is a practical construction, dialogic, open to the world and life in common.