Playing Truth and Metaphorical Reference: The Issue of the Literary Work in the Perspectives of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur

Abstract

The article compares the concepts of play and truth in the philosophy of HansGeorg Gadamer with the concepts of reference and metaphor in the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur. The author begins by focusing on Gadamer, who presents the existence of artwork as a game. Then, the author analyzes how literary works can serve as carriers of truth and what this truth means in the context of literature. After describing Gadamer’s concepts, the author moves on to the analysis of selected themes from Ricoeur’s hermeneutical theory. The starting point is the issue of different types of reference in texts. In connection with poetic reference, the author describes the characteristic feature of poetic texts - metaphor. The final comparative section of the article seeks to uncover the connections between these concepts within the framework of both philosophers’ hermeneutics.