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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
7 6 June 2017
I
N THE acknowledgement section of philoso
-
pher Paul Ricoeur’s last major book, he
thanked his editorial assistant for a “perti-
nent critique” of the draft work.
As he was then finishing up working for
Ricoeur, in 2014, that editorial assistant, fresh-
faced Emmanuel Macron, professed himself
“like an excited child at the end of a show”.
Macron, now French President, has shown
more leadership than the entire rest of the West-
ern world since his election. He claims to have
found a political path between left and right, has
made clear in the most elegant ways his disdain
for Trump and has bowed to nobody, least of all
Vladimir Putin in sharing truths about interna-
tional political thuggery. So it is interesting to
trace his philosophic influences.
For Ricoeur, phronesis, Aristotle’s term practi-
cal wisdom, is the tool we bring to bear on
political or social puzzles. There is no single
method and it does not flow not from a universal
moral code but instead from leading an ethical
life.
In 1969 when he learned that a group of stu
-
dent radicals was committed to preventing
professors enter the cafeteria at the University
of Nanterre, then a refuge for radical leftists from
the University of the Sorbonne, to which he had
just been appointed a professor, Ricoeur never
-
theless walked into the room in the hope of
dialogue. However, one of the students placed a
dustbin lid on Ricoeur’s head. This cameo grimly
illustrates what Ricoeur called the fragility of
politics.
The week before the recent French Presidential
Macron talked – and listened – to a crowd of
angry workers at a tumble-dryer factory in
Amiens, northern France, threatened with clo-
sure by June 2018.
Greeted by whistles and calls of “Marine for
president” when he arrived, by the time he left
Macron had, if not completely convinced his
audience, at least ended the jeers – and won
some respect. “I’m not sure he can truly help us”
one striking employee was reported as saying.
“But he tried. He was quiet and honest”.
It was a dustbin initiative. It was more ethical
than the actions of most politicians in similar
circumstances.
For Ricoeur, integrity can be judged by our
attachment to the promises we make to our
-
selves and to others.
Distinguishing himself from Le Pen and Jean-Luc
Mélenchon, the leader of the extreme left Defi-
ant France, Macron declared: “I will not promise
that I will nationalize your factory. The answer
to what is happening is not to suppress globali
-
sation or close the borders. Do not be fooled by
those who tell you otherwise. They are lying to
you. Unhappily, there will always be companies
that fail”.
When a worker demanded to know what
Macron would do as president, he vowed that
his government would invest heavily in retrain-
ing programs for endangered industries.
Hearing frustrated groans, Macron replied by
telling the workers that he did not come to
“promise the moon,” but instead that he would
fight for them: “We all have responsibilities. If I
did not respect your work, your fears, and your
anger, I would not be here today”. He then made
a final promise: “I will return, without cameras
and even if I lose”.
The recognition of the other’s singularity, the
recognition that there are no simple solutions
and that confrontations must become dialogues
— creating a space, even in parking lots, where
answers might not be found but questions will
find respectful listeners — all reflect Ricoeur’s
ethics. So, too, does Macron’s repeated invoca
-
tion of promises, both those he would make
— such as returning to Amiens to meet the work-
ers — and those he would not, like Le Pen’s to
keep Whirlpool’s operations in Amiens.
In an essay titled ‘Existence and Hermeneutics’
Ricoeur claims he is striving for a philosophy
INTERNATIONAL
Interpreting an unusually honest politician who
claims to be neither left nor right
by Michael Smith
Macronomics
“I’m not sure he can truly
help us” one striking
employee was reported as
saying. “But he tried. He
was quiet and honest”
Macron with workers at the
Whirlpool factory, Amiens
June 2017 7 7
which can describe and engage with the various
ways that people make sense of their worlds. He
wants a philosophy which can arbitrate the
claims which different world views, each a phi-
losophy in its own right, will present. Ricoeur
proposes hermeneutics, the art/science of inter-
pretation, as a model for the philosophy he
desires. This he defines as the art or science of
interpreting texts where more than one meaning
is present.
Macron has famously formed his party, En
Marche, and his government in equal measure
from the left and the right, and – allegedly –
from neither.
He characteristically frames his vision with
the famous formula “and at the same time”: For
example addressing probably the most frac-
tious issue in French politics he has said he
wants to make work more flexible but at the
same time protect the most vulnerable.
Ricoeur emphasises an ethic of responsibility, a
sort of ‘practical wisdom’ seeking constantly to
integrate actions with a sense of the
consequences.
This would account for Macron’s strength on the
issue of climate change. He berated Trump for
his withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agree-
ment, in English, calling to make the planet
great again; and he called on climate scientists
disgruntled with Trump’s policies to help France
with its efforts to arrest global warming.
Ricoeur struggles with the correlation between
power and evil.
There is evidence Macron does not pull his
punches. Who could deny that scrunching
Trump’s tiny fist in a symbolic macho handshake
was addressing evil used by power, head on,
albeit in a banal way.
Ricoeur is Christian, utopian and idealistic. He
thinks that politics should intersect with eco-
nomics and ethics.
One of the manifestations of this is strict hon
-
esty. After telling celebrated, fashionable
psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in 1963 that he
could not understand a word of his writings on
Freud, Ricoeur became the bête noire of Lacan’s
zealous followers. It was blunt and brave.
In the presence of the intimidating Vladimir
Putin and in another “muscular exchange”, in
May, Macron attacked Russian propaganda out-
lets, which he says do not practise journalism.
“I will not give an inch on this”, he asserted.
“Russia Today and Sputnik ... behaved as organs
of influence, of propaganda, of lying propa-
ganda”. Putin defensively said (of allegations
Russia hacked the French election), “Do you
think that we are ignorant of the results of the
elections? We’re not kids, we’re not children”.
However, Macron stood firm, fixing a sceptical
stare on Putin as he made his denials. Macron
also warned Russia against supporting further
chemical attacks by the Assad regime in Syria.
As Macron put it, this will be considered a “red
line” for France: “The use of chemical weapons
by anyone will be the object of reprisals and
immediate retaliation on the part of France”.
Though a Christian, Ricoeur believed in secular
and pluralistic law.
Macron reveres the memory of King Henri IV,
who was tactically flexible about his own reli
-
gious identity and affirmed confessional
tolerance.
The Economist magazine says of a speech
Macron gave last year in Montpellier(once a bas-
tion of Protestantism), “Although he accepted
that Islam was a unique subject of concern in
today’s France, he was equally adamant that no
religion was in itself a problem. The purpose of
France’s regime of laïcité (strict secularism) was
not “to conduct a battle against this or that reli-
gion in particular, not to exclude, not to point a
finger…” As he conceived it, the function
of laïcité was not to curb religion but to affirm
and underpin religious freedom, albeit strictly
within the framework of the law. That last senti-
ment is more characteristic of American
Church-State separation than of French secular-
ism in its most zealously anti-clerical form”.
Although born into a secular family, Macron
asked to be baptised at age 12. He is not a regu
-
lar churchgoer and has been described as a
“Zombie Catholic”.
“Macron has likened the internal problems of
the European Union and its monetary system to
a religious conflict. The Protestant north had a
rigid and moralistic attitude towards debt while
the Catholic south, with its culture of confession
and absolution, took a more happy-go-lucky
view, he once said”.
Ricoeur was ironically the most ‘American’ of his
generation of French intellectuals. Not only did
he teach for several years at the University of
Chicago, but his works are also exceptional — at
least among French philosophers — for their
knowledge and engagement with Anglo-Ameri-
can thinkers ranging from P. F. Strawson and
Alasdair MacIntyre through John Rawls to Frank
Kermode and Wayne Booth.
Macron uses English as a weapon – speaking in
French to Trump but in English about him. His
comfort at engaging Trump in a competitive
handshake suggests a non-Galllic horizon, for
good and bad.
Macron stood firm,
fixing a sceptical
stare on Putin as he
made his denials
Struggling with power and evil
7 8 June 2017
Almost one third of the Irish population live in towns.
architectural heritage. Although most of our towns share a
common history of development they vary considerably in
form and scale from one another. In effect, each town is
unique in its own way and each has its own story to tell.
Towns with a Past. Towns with a Fu
Almost one third of the Irish population lives in towns. Many Irish town
have unique features, significant historical monuments, beautiful riverside wa
fine architectural heritage. Although most of our towns share a common his
development they vary considerably in form and scale from one another. In
each town is unique in its own way and each has its own story to tell
.
The Heritage Council
Áras na hOidhreachta
Church Lane, Kilkenny, Ireland
T +353 (0)56 77
E mail@heritage
www.heritagec
These publications from the Heritage C
to inform and celebrate what makes Iri
distinctive and to promote their cultura
and economic value.
HC Emergency Services advert.qxp_Layout 1 16/02/2017 15:29 Page 1
owns with a Future.
lives in towns. Many Irish towns
onuments, beautiful riverside walks and
our towns share a common history of
and scale from one another. In effect,
nd each has its own story to tell.
ncil
ta
nny, Ireland
T +353 (0)56 777 0 777
E mail@heritagecouncil.ie
www.heritagecouncil.ie
e publications from the Heritage Council aim
orm and celebrate what makes Irish towns
ctive and to promote their cultural, social
conomic value.
Towns with a Past. Towns with a Future.
