Abstract

This dissertation advances the argument that Paul Ricoeur's philosophical anthropology opens the possibility for a systematic and meaningful theological ethics in Christian perspective. After exploring the development of anthropological ideas across Ricoeur's philosophical oeuvre, the project focuses attention on his exploration of the creative tension between the ideals of love and justice as these are configured in biblical texts. Paying particular attention to the poetic and rhetorical aspects of the biblical canon, the dissertation presents the idea of a poetic imperative, most adequately expressed in terms of the love command, which functions as a moral ideal similar to Kants categorical imperative