French President Emmanuel Macron addresses Ricoeur event at DCU Institute of Education

In a wide-ranging video address, President Macron praised the participants for continuing to “champion the work of Paul Ricoeur.” The workshop, organised by the Paris-based Fonds Ricoeur, is one of a series of events dedicated to selected major works by the philosopher, with the DCU session focused on his
book Memory, History, Forgetting (2000).

President Macron, who has in-depth knowledge of the book, said the philosopher’s thinking had inspired him in his approach to the presidency and that Ricoeur’s work “is profoundly relevant today.”

“At a time of populism, authoritarian tendencies, and the very return of the spectre of totalitarianism, these texts represent a path of clarity, freedom and unwavering deliberation.”

In his ten-minute address, President Macron also reflected that Ricoeur’s work remains relevant to how France remembers and accepts its “wounded, forbidden or silenced memories”, such as the atrocities committed by French state forces during the Algerian War of Independence.

He said Paul Ricoeur’s work suggests that “the future means looking back at this common past in a different way.” The workshop at DCU Institute of Education was opened by Executive Dean Prof Anne Looney, who welcomed the attendees to the University’s St Patrick’s campus. An international roster of keynote speakers included Stephanie Arel (Fordham University), Olivier Abel (Faculté de Théologie Protestante de Montpellier), Johann Michel (Université de Poitiers), Alison Scott-Baumann (SOAS, University of London) and Richard Kearney (Boston College).

Jean-Luc Amalric (CPGE Arts and Design Nîmes) gave a plenary talk on Ricoeur’s recently published lectures on imagination, and 24 scholars from 11 countries presented papers.

You can find more details on the workshop on the Society for Ricoeur Studies website.