the faces of violence in paul ricoeur (silvia gabriel) o.k

7/21/2019 The Faces of Violence in Paul Ricoeur (Silvia Gabriel) O.K.

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The Faces of Violence in Paul Ricoeur:

Three Fundamental Dimensions.

Silvia Cristina Gabriel1

Abstract:

Using as theoretical framework C. A. J. Coadys legitimist and strctral theories of

violence! we will e"#lore $al %icoers legacy on the sb&ect. 'irst! we will consider

violence from an ethical and moral angle. Secondly! we will a##roach its #olitical

dimension. (r contention is that %icoer defends an asymmetrical dialectic between the

legitimist and strctral theories! in which the former ac)ire intelligibility only within a

broad conce#t of violence akin to *annah Arendts. +hirdly! we will e"amine violence in

relation to time. ,e will make reference to the e#och-making events of historical

commnities and to the destiny of violence in im#osed forgetting and difficlt forgiveness.

,e will conclde with a brief accont of the merits and the #artly nresolved )estions inside

%icoers work.

Key Words:

$al %icoer! violence! legitimist theories! strctral theories! ethics! morality! #olitical

s#here! #olitics! history! difficlt forgivness.

*****

1. ntroduction

C.A. Coady #ro#oses two ma&or theories abot violence. +he first! related to

conservative #olicies view#oints! #holds legitimiing argments which define violence as

the illegitimate use of force./+he second! associated with the #olitical left wing! s##orts a

broad conce#t of violence! bordering strctral violence!

0

for which it is near to everyform of social injustice.Coady remarks that! des#ite their differences! they both re#resent an

overmoraliation of this conce#t which oght to be mch less ethically crammed to avoid

evading the central isse of violens and becomepolitically useful.

,ithot denying the atonomy of the #olitical field! defended by $al %icoer in his

well-known article +he $olitical $arado" 213456!4not only here bt also in 7thics and

$olitics2134869and Oneself as Another2133:6!5does the athor #ro#ose to s#eak in terms of

the intersectionof ethics and #olitics. As %icoer claims that the #olitical realm e"tends the

one of ethics by assigning to it a s#here of e"ercise!8he cold hardly sbscribe to a #osition

sch as Coady;s in which any evalative definition of violence wold become #olitically

seless.


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?efore setting abot the s#ecifications violence ac)ires in the ethical and moral

dimension! we mst be clear on the fact that by convention! for %icoer both terms are not

e"changeable. +hey both ac)ire a technical character. ,hile by ethics he means theaimof

an accom#lished life!3morality #oints to the articlation of this aim in normscharacteried

at once by the claim to niversality and by an effect of constraint.1:+his convention clears #when %icoer links ethics to the Aristotelian teleological legacy and morality to @antian

deontological tradition. 'ar from s##orting strict orthodo"y! Agstn Boratalla is right in

claiming that his teleologism is! at the same time and indissolbly! deontologism.11A moral

deontologism which is sbordinated to the ethical aim of the good life! bt which o#erates

as its essential com#lement.

,here does this need for an ethical goal crossed by the @antian idea of moral law!

derive from ?ecase for %icoer violence constittes the #rimary circumstance in the

transition from a teleological to a deontological #oint of view.1/,hy shold violence go

from the level of good life 2teleological level6 to the level of the dtifl! the obligatory

2deontological level6 %icoer follows *annah Arendt who states Violence DEF is

distingished by its instrmental character.10

As John ,all e"#lains! for %icoer iolence ismeant as a broad term referring to any #ractice in which #ersons are instrumentalizedfor an

alien or fragmenting teleological #r#ose.1 +he #ossibility of manifestation of this

instrmentalism arises in the telelogical level where not only coo#eration bt also

confrontation sitations may ha##en. ?efore these sitations de res#ect to #eo#le is raised as

stated in the second formlation of the @antian categorical im#erativeH Act in sch a way that

yo treat hmanity! whether in yor own #erson or in the #erson of another! always at the

same time as an end and never merely as a means to an end.14

+his #assage of an ethics! that %icoer calls naIve! throgh morality is to establish

reciprocityon the very s#ace where &st by resorting to this ethics all figres of violence are

bond to be triggered.


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#. Violence in the "olitical s"here: the "er"endicular structure of "olitics

s #hiloso#hical #ro&ect in thehilosophy of !ight remains very close to my ownviews! to the e"tent that DEF the notion of "ittlich#eit DEF has never ceased to instrct

s./1

As we antici#ated in the s formla that the state is the organiation of a

historical commnityM organied as state! the commnity is ca#able of making decisions.//

%icoer is clear in advocating that ,eil>s formlation focses on the rational formwhen it

comes to defining the state. +his rational form highlights what %icoer calls the horiontal tie

of wishing to live together./0+his horiontality is immediately e)ated with Arendt>s formla

to definepoweras the hman ability not &st to act! bt to act in concert./

Nonetheless! %icoer thinks there is more to ,eil>s formla than to Arendt>s claims.

Arendt contested Ba" ,eber>s well-known definition of the stateH the state is the form of

hman commnity that 2sccessflly6 lays claim to the monopoly of the legitimate physical

violencewithin a #articlar territory./4Arendt re#lies that $ower and violence are o##ositesM

where the one rles absoltely! the other is absent./9,eil>s advantage regarding Arendt>s

#osition consists of the incor#oration of a volntarist dimension of the state! absent in Arendt.

+his is the reason why %icoer assigns the state a #er#endiclar strctre! in which the

horiontal level of the rational form is crossed throgh by a vertical one! #recisely the one of

force.


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athority constittes! says %icoer! the most stable element! since it re#resents #ermanence!

endrance! or we might &st say! resilience./3

$. Time and %iolence


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&. 'onclusion

,e will conclde this #a#er with a brief assessment of the achievements and #artially

nresolved matters arond violence as #resented in %icoer;s work.

'irst! within its merits stands a serios attem#t at mediating between niversalist

claims and commnitarian limitations affecting the #hiloso#hical #rinci#les of hman rights!throgh his #ro#osal of the niversals in conte"t. Among the nresolved to#ics lies the

evasive character of these inchoative niversals. %icoer;s intention of reconciling

Aristotelian phronesis with *egelian "ittlich#eit throgh @antian oralit/t03 can be

challenged following Bartha Nssbam as she )estioned him as followsH

,hat is the lesson taght s by the #lays conclding a##eal to #ractical

wisdom 2tophronein6 *ow can there be good deliberation in a sitation in

which all the altermatives involve doing violence to an im#ortant vale:

7s#ecially when Nssbam herself reminds s that +he first thing that tragic #hronein

shows s! for %icoer as for *egel! is the DEF #artiality of the com#eting #rinci#les.1

Second! it is worth noting the virte behind %icoer;s #osition on avoiding the

nilaterality of Arendt;s and ,eber;s #ro#osals. +he strctre in which the rational form of

living with or co-action is crossed by the irrational thorn of the legitimate force#roves

#lasible. And if it #roves #lasible! it is becase its #rogram cannot be nilaterally associated

with either conservative fndamentalism or radical #olitical left wing. Among some

nfinished matters! he enigmatically sets aside his early as#iration of articlating a #olitical

#hiloso#hy. All the more enigmatic when he! at times! rges s to make se of legitimate state

violence to #t an end to violence once and for all./

'inally! we think how original he is in stating the fictionaliation of history as an

iconic device ca#able of #reventing historical commnities from forgetting fonding

violence. +his fictionaliation also o#erates as a soltion to restore #olitics throgh difficltforgiveness. Among the drawbacks! is the attem#t at e"#laining difficlt forgiveness!

regarded as an act of faith! within a s#ra-ethics %icoer associates with economy of the gift

which is characteried by the victory of the logic of s#erabndance over the logic of

e)ivalence or the reci#rocity.0?ringing difficlt forgiveness closer to the economy of the

gift trns the former into a nconditionality ending # as its attribte. ,e believe this

#oetics of love 0ag1pe2 in which %icoer inscribes difficlt forgiveness shold o#en frther

# to the langage of &stice. s idea of bringing

e"em#lary memory together with &stice a better way to restore #olitics throgh difficlt

forgiveness. $onditioningdifficlt forgiveness to com#arison! analogy and generaliation

inherent instances in +odorov>s notion of e"em#lary memory wold better garantee that

when it comes to forgiving we have in fact learnt from the #ast.7s#ecially when! ltimately!

it is im#ortant to learn how to co#e with the mlti#le and mltiform faces of violens in the

corse of time.

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1

(otes

+ranslated from S#anish to 7nglish by Bara iviana Batta./B ,eber incarnates this legitimism. See B ,eber! +he $rofession and ocation of $olitics! in

olitical 3ritings! $ =asssman and % S#eiers 2eds.6! Cambridge University $ress! Cambridge! 133!

##. 0:3093.0See J Galtng! iolence! $eace and $eace %esearch! in 4ournal of eace !esearch! 1393! ol. 9 n.

/! ##. 195-131. See also J Galtng! Cltral iolence! in4ournal of eace !esearch! 133:! ol. /5 n.

0! ##. /31-0:4.See C A J Coady! iolence! in!outledge 5ncyclopedia of hilosophy! ersion 1.:! =ondon.4 See $ %icoer! +he $olitical $arado"! in ib.! -istory and Truth! Northwestern University #ress!

7vanston! 1394! /5-5:.9$ %icoer! 7thics and #olitics! in ib.!romText to Action' 5ssays in -ermeneutics 66! Northwestern

University $ress! 7vanston! 1331! ##. 0/4-005.5 See $ %icoer! Oneself as Another!Northwestern University $ress! 7vanston! 133/.8See $ %icoer! 7thics andE! #. 000.3$ %icoer! Oneself as Another!+he University of Chicago $ress! Chicago! 133/! #. 15:.1:


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08See ibid.03$ %icoer! OneselfE! #. /3:.: B Nssbam! %icoer on +ragedy. +eleology! Oeontology! and hronesis! inaul !icoeur and

$ontemporaryE! #. /5/.1


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! Time and +arrative. Vol (! +rans. @athleen ?lamey and Oavid $ellaer! +he University of Chicago

$ress! 1388.

!romText to Action' 5ssays in -ermeneutics 66! +rans. @athleen ?lamey and John ?. +hom#son.7vanstonH Northwestern University $ress! 1331.

!&ectures * : Autour du politi%ue. $aris! Seil! 1331.

! Oneself as Another! +rans. @athleen ?lamey! +he University of Chicago $ress! 133/.

!Amor y justicia! S#anish +rans. +omRs Oomingo Boratalla! Ca#arrPs 7ditores! Badrid! 1330.

! $riti%ue and conviction' conversations with ran9ois Azouvi and arc de &aunay! +rans. $olity$ress! Colmbia Univerity! New Qork!1338.

!&a lectura del tiempo pasado' memoria y olvido! S#anish +rans. Gabriel Arane)e! Arrecife!

Badrid! 1333.

! The 4ust! +rans. Oavid $ellaer! +he University of Chicago $ress! Chicago and =ondon! /:::.

! emory, -istory, orgetting, +rans. @athleen ?lamey and Oavid $ellaer! +he University of

Chicago $ress! Chicago! /::.

+odorov! +.! +he Uses and Abses of Bemory!L in *oward Barchitello 2ed.6! 3hat -appens to

-istory' The !enewal of 5thics in $ontemporary Thought! %otledge! Neva Qork! /::1! ##. 11-//.

,all! J.! KBoral Beaning. ?eyond the Good and the %ight!L in aul !icoeur and $ontemporary oralThought! John ,all! ,illiam Shweiker! and Oavid *all 2eds.6! %otledge! =ondon! /::/! ##. 5-90.

,eber! olitical 3ritings! $eter =asssman and %onald S#eiers 2eds6! Cambridge University $ress!Cambridge! 133! ##. 0:3093.

,eil! 7ric!&a philosophie politi%ue! $aris! rin! 138.

+il%ia 'ristina ,abriel is Senior =ectrer and %esearcher in the University of ?enos Aires

2Argentina6. She has #blished many articles in national and foreign academic &ornals,mainly on$olitical $hiloso#hy! *ermenetics! and Aesthetics.She is #articlarly interested in the hermenetical!

#olitical! ethical! and aesthetical as#ects of $al %icoers work.

the faces of violence in paul ricoeur (silvia gabriel) o.k

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