Imagination and Postmodernity (Studies in the Thought of Paul Ricoeur)

Imagination and Postmodernity addresses the role of the imagination in philosophy today. By focusing on philosophy at the boundary of reason with constant reference to Kant’s view of the boundary-limit, it is possible to advance a viable alternative to deconstructing the imagination. Patrick L. Bourgeois puts forth the claim that by refocusing the imagination in the postmodern conversation, a far-reaching contemporary position can be reached that reestablishes the position of the humanities as central against the anti-humanism of deconstruction. This work addresses some of the challenges and problems that emerge in conflicting positions within contemporary philosophy, including a concentration on the role of the imagination in the work of Paul Ricoeur in contrast and in opposition to its role in such postmodern thinkers as Derrida and Lyotard. This treatment requires going back to the role of the imagination in the period of Kant and his immediate followers in order to clarify the various ways of seeing the imagination then and now, for the role today is anticipated in the nineteenth century. Finally, this work, as a creative appropriation of the position of Paul Ricoeur, presents a role for the imagination today that is more encompassing than most thinkers allow for.

Patrick L. Bourgeois is William and Audrey Hutchinson Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University since 1968. He has authored or co-authored nine books, among which are: Philosophy at the Boundary of Reason, Ethics and Postmodernity (2001); The Extension of Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics (1975); The Religious Within Experience and Existence: A Phenomenological Investigation (1990); Mead and Merleau-Ponty: A Common Vision, with Rosenthal, (1991); and Thematic Studies in Phenomenology and Pragmatism, with Rosenthal (1983).