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If it is true that there is always more than one way of construing a text, it is not true that all interpretations are equal.
Paul Ricoeur
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Interpretations of texts can vary, but not all interpretations hold the same value.

This quote by Paul Ricoeur suggests that while texts can be understood in multiple ways, it is important to recognize that some interpretations are more valid or insightful than others. It emphasizes the complexity of meaning in language and the need for critical interpretation, acknowledging that subjective viewpoints can differ in their merits and relevance.

Themes

InterpretationTextMeaningValuePhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

Discussing literary analysis in a classroom setting.

More from Paul Ricoeur

Although there has always been a hermeneutic problem in Christianity, the hermeneutic question today seems to us a new one.
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The narrative constructs the identity of the character, what can be called his or her narrative identity, in constructing that of the story told. It is the identity of the story that makes the identity of the character.
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But myth is something else than an explanation of the world, of history, and of destiny. Myth expresses in terms of the world - that is, of the other world or the second world - the understanding that man has of himself in relation to the foundation and the limit of his existence. Hence to demythologize is to interpret myth, that is, to relate the objective representations of the myth to the self-understanding which is both shown and concealed in it.
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On a cosmic scale, our life is insignificant, yet this brief period when we appear in the world is the time in which all meaningful questions arise.
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Testimony demands to be interpreted because of the dialectic of meaning and event that traverses it.
Paul RicoeurRead
Myth expresses in terms of the world - that is, of the other world or the second world - the understanding that man has of himself in relation to the foundation and the limit of his existence.
Paul RicoeurRead

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A little wisdom, now and then

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