Laitinen, Arto – Charles Taylor and Paul Ricoeur on Self-Interpretations and Narrative Identity

In this chapter I discuss Charles Taylor’s and Paul Ricoeur’s theories of narrative identity
and narratives as a central form of self-interpretation.1 Both Taylor and Ricoeur think that
self-identity is a matter of culturally and socially mediated self-definitions, which are
practically relevant for one’s orientation in life.2 First, I will go through various
characterisations that Ricoeur gives of his theory, and try to show to what extent they also
apply to Taylor’s theory. Then, I will analyse more closely Charles Taylor’s, and in
section three, Paul Ricoeur’s views on narrative identity.