On the Practical Meaning and Limit of Paul's Ricoeur's "Hermeneutics of the Self" in the Philosophical Counseling Process

This paper begins with the statement about Paul Ricoeur's "hermeneutics of the self" in wishes to connect the thought of hermeneutics with the actual field of philosophical practice, explicating its practical meaning and limits. The narrative theory addressed in Ricoeur's Time and Narrative follows Heidegger's Being and Time: from being to time and then to narrative, all the development and culture of human beings are related to being, time and language. "Talking" is a necessary element in the counseling process while the "counseling record" is an important part. Is it possible to help the client understand him or herself more if, during the counseling process, talking and the records of these talks are utilized as the texts, and the language texts are the intermediary through which to understand the client? This paper is to explore how Ricoeur's "hermeneutics of the self" involves language as the intermediary along with the process, practical meaning and limits of philosophical counseling process.