Abstract

On his birth centenary, this essay takes into account the philosophical work of Paul Ricoeur as a whole, focusing on two points which came out in the last phase of his research: anthropology of the capable man and ontology of act as potency. This development is included in a reflective philosophy having a phenomenological and hermeneutic method and constantly comparing itself with non-philosophical sources. Such an approach, favouring main coordinates of Ricoeur’s philosophy – action, language, imagination – more than his training process, gives the opportunity to underline the peculiarity and, in the meantime, keep an “open work” structure and carry on, also critically, his inspiration.