Shorthouse, Raymond T. (1999) From 'suspicion' to 'affirmation' : a study of the role of the imagination and prose rhythm, drawing upon the hermeneutical philosophy of Paul Ricoeur, in which there may be movement from suspicion to affirmation of reasonable hope. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to show that a familiar hermeneutical movement from suspicion to
affirmation of rational meaning, as a reader reflects on a narrative, is, in part, grounded in the
narrative's rhythmic structure which mediates a sonorous condition of being appropriated by the
reader.
This hermeneutical process involves the reader in appropriating the temporal perspective (or the
'implied author's' or Other's viewpoint) which creates a 'space' for reflection in which a
provisional conceptual unity is made possible, but subject to continuing movement from
suspicion to affirmation. It is shown that this relationship between Self and Other is dialectical,
and mediated by the textual modes of metaphor and narrative. Particular examples of poetry and
prose are examined, and the story of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac in the 'Authorised Version' of
the Bible is analyzed in detail in an attempt to show how the reader, imaginatively inhabiting the
world of the text, is involved in a process in which there is an 'instant' of letting go Self
reflection; and there is affirmation of reasonable hope that the narrative may be rationally
understood. In an attempt to address the critical issue of validation of rational meaning to show
that affirmation may be given reasonable hope, the analogy of juridical legality is examined,
particularly with respect to Aristotle's notion of phronesis.
The analysis draws upon the hermeneutical philosophy of Paul Ricoeur with particular regard to
his theories of metaphor and narrative, and the role of the creative imagination. It also makes use
of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's understanding of the lived body in terms of a dialectical relationship
between its material objectivity and its phenomenological aspects, especially, with respect to
sonorous being and corporeal intentionality. From the discipline of literary criticism, Northrop
Frye's notion of prose rhythm in his Anatomy of Criticism is employed to identity this key
mediatory characteristic.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BD Speculative Philosophy
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Language and languages -- Rhythm, Ricœur, Paul -- Criticism and interpretation, Hermeneutics, Bible -- Hermeneutics
Official Date:	September 1999
Dates:	Date Event September 1999 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Philosophy
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Warner, Martin
Extent:	271 p.
Language:	eng

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