In "The Hermeneutics of Symbols and Philosophical Reflection", which examines the evolution of Judaic conceptions of evil, Ricoeur provides an interesting instance of paradigm change. Pointing out that the Old Testament variously considers sin as a stain, weight, or deviation, he argues that:
"... a symbol is first of all the destroyer of a prior symbol. Thus we see the symbolism of sin take shape about images which are the inverse of stain images; in place of exterior contact, it is now deviation (from the target, the straight path, the limit not to be crossed, and so on) which serves as guiding schema. This switch in themes is the expression of an overturning of fundamental motifs. A new category of religious experience is born: that of 'before God,' of which theJewish berit, the Alliance, is the witness... What becomes then of the initial symbol? On the one hand, evil is no longer a thing, but a broken relationship, hence a nothing; this nothing is expressed in terms of the vaporousness and vanity of the idol... But at the same time a new positivity of evil arises, no longer an exterior 'something,' but a real enslaving power. The symbol of captivity, which transforms a historical event (the Egyptian captivity, then the Babylonian captivity) into a schema of existence, represents the highest expression achieved by the penitential experience of Israel."
The Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur. (1978) Boston: Charles E. Reagan and David Stewart, p40
Paul Ricoeur's Schema of Existence
"... a symbol is first of all the destroyer of a prior symbol. Thus we see the symbolism of sin take shape about images which are the inverse of stain images; in place of exterior contact, it is now deviation (from the target, the straight path, the limit not to be crossed, and so on) which serves as guiding schema. This switch in themes is the expression of an overturning of fundamental motifs. A new category of religious experience is born: that of 'before God,' of which theJewish berit, the Alliance, is the witness... What becomes then of the initial symbol? On the one hand, evil is no longer a thing, but a broken relationship, hence a nothing; this nothing is expressed in terms of the vaporousness and vanity of the idol... But at the same time a new positivity of evil arises, no longer an exterior 'something,' but a real enslaving power. The symbol of captivity, which transforms a historical event (the Egyptian captivity, then the Babylonian captivity) into a schema of existence, represents the highest expression achieved by the penitential experience of Israel."
The Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur. (1978) Boston: Charles E. Reagan and David Stewart, p40
Paul Ricoeur's Schema of Existence