Abstract

The aim of this paper is to consider Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of the self as the basis for a revisited metaphysics, which can make a substantial contribution to the current philosophical debate. The focus is in particular on the different aspects of the process from “being” towards “ought to be”, that is from an ontological-metaphysical perspective to questions pertaining to the moral sphere. Starting from an original interpretation of Aristotle’s phronesis as a hermeneutic virtue, Ricoeur describes the human individual as someone who, through the recognition of oneself as a union of identity and alterity, discovers the image of a “capable” subject and the possibility of his engagement and his action for the sake of good and justice.