Paul Ricœur is undoubtedly among the most distinguished philosophers of his era.¹ In the course of his long career he has investigated a large number of crucial issues such as action, time, history, and language. These studies all fit together as what he himself has called a "philosophical anthropology."² Philosophical anthropology's task is to examine the multiple dimensions of human existence, to lay bare the distinctive ways in which we affect and are affected by the material and cultural contexts that we inhabit.