Identità in esilio. Il rapporto tra “passioni identitarie” e “coscienza planetaria” in Paul Ricoeur

This article investigates the question of the possible survival of cultures despite the dominant mechanisms of planetary standardization. Through the analysis of some writings by Paul Ricoeur, I want to describe an appropriate perspective of intercultural pluralism, which presupposes an attitude of self-decentering. The “passions of identity” coexist with a more elaborate form of “planetary awareness”. Western culture’s claim of being the only universal culture could be overcome and a real approach to other traditions made possible. On this view, human plurality can become a fundamental premise both for the constitution of the self, even as a “migrant” self, and for the configuration of a specific space of hospitality.