Abstract
Paul Ricoeur’s theory of the narrative is above all the answer to one question: How can rationality work as a configuration of meaning, out of the typically modern view of reason as a transcendental principle? This sort of ‘hermeneutical reconstruction’ of rationality shows relevant consequences on the ethical side: ambiguity and opacity in the relationship between subject and world have their counterpart in the precariousness of existence. Ricoeur’s petite éthique is overall a project to establish conditions for collective emancipation, in a horizon where fragility is a call to face human weakness.

Keywords: Paul Ricoeur, Hermeneutics, Normative Ethics, Narrative, Subject