Paul Ricoeur’s Time and Narrative

Time and narrative is a book written by Paul Ricoeur which is a very descriptive and informative

account of time and its different aspects. The writer focuses greatly on how deep and the multi-

sided time actually is and how we can view it from different perspectives even if we don’t see it

as exactly as it really is. The author explains that time has different accounts for different people

as two people can have the same age and can have shared the same lifestyle but be totally

different in terms of the perspective of life and their surroundings. This is similar to Aristotle and

ancient Greek philosopher’s accounts of whether or not time exists or is just a state of mind that

is formed by the human mind or that the world is actually timeless. This speculation and the

other speculations have emerged from the different aspects of time such as the past, which

doesn’t exist anymore, the future, which hasn’t come yet and in between them the ever-changing

present that cannot be grasped or stopped. In this essay, I will be mentioning the different aspects

of time according to Ricoeur and how he views it according to his accounts.

The issue of the time being never-stopping or that it being tied to the ticking of the clock,

Ricoeur suggested or stated that time is not moving or functioning in accordance to the ticking or

the operation of the clock, but rather it is working as a narrative. “Chronological time is, quite

clearly, represented in the fiction by the striking of Big Ben and the other bells and clocks, as

they ring out the hours. What is important is not this reminder of the hour, striking at the same

time for everyone, however, but the relation that the various protagonists establish with these

marks of time.”(Ricoeur 105). He differentiates between two different accounts of time which
are the linear progression of time such as the passing of the seconds, minutes, hours, days and

years from birth to death such as the flow of a river. This is what most people refer to time and

see it which is called phenomenological time. However, due to the high intellect and self-

awareness of human nature, the things and actions that have happened in the past or that have the

possibility of happening in the future can be well understood and expected through the usage of

complex research and analysis of the present and past occurrences. “This monumental history, in

its turn, secretes what I will venture to call a "monumental time," of which chronological time is

but the audible expression.” (Ricoeur 105).

Time has also another meaning in regards to the author’s description when he describes it as a

way through which people can recognize the more complex thoughts and ideas. This complex

thought is the way it can communicate and connect with beings such as humans, animals, plants

and so on. However, animals and plants don’t have the intelligence to grasp the future and the

past the way humans do. “First-order entities show a rise and fall in their identities because of

their continuity and diachronic character. But identity also suggests homogeneity: a person

remains the same despite changes in his personality. To put it simply: John changes continually

during his lifetime, but never becomes Bill or Peter.” (Jansen). The ways things are affected by

time is limited as time mostly affects the personality of the person and not the identity. A person

stays the same person with the same

In conclusion, time has always been a very controversial topic that has been debated throughout

history by the many great thinkers and philosophers. The author of Time and Narrative has

presented a well-throughout idea and account of time which he tells and conveys through
numerous examples such as the ticing of the Big Ben and many others. He creates questions tries

to answer old ones such as whether or not time exists which was firat posed by great Greek

philosophers at the time.

Works Cited

JANSEN, HARRY. “TIME, NARRATIVE, AND FICTION: THE UNEASY RELATIONSHIP l

BETWEEN RICOEUR AND A HETEROGENEOUS TEMPORALITY.

https://iep.utm.edu/ricoeur/#H5