Abstract

LENIS CASTANO, John Fredy. Memory, Ideology and Criticism: A Phenomenology of the Ethical-Political World. Estud. Polit. [online]. 2009, n.34, pp.11-45. ISSN 0121-5167.

The concepts of tradition (ideology) and criticism have been polarized to the point of being represented by two main contemporary currents: hermeneutics and critical theory, which are in turn associated with conservative and liberal views respectively. However, it is possible to find a field of intersection between both of these which makes their tension a perennial and productive dialectic for the analysis of ethical and political problems such as memory, legal and moral assessment, and responsibility. This article aims at showing such an intersection by following the ideas of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur in a mainly phenomenological and hermeneutic horizon. To achieve this, the article will address seven main sections: altering of the past and the reconstruction of memory; tradition, account, and ideological self-justification; criticism of tradition; the fly-over of criticism and the anchoring of tradition; the utopian horizon of criticism; narration, memory, and debate; and, the conclusion: trials, judgments, responsibility, and redress.

Keywords : Historical Memory; Ideology; Criticism; Responsibility; Dialectics; Phenomenology; Hermeneutics; Ricoeur; Paul.

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