A Study on the Relation between the Notions of the Symbol and Metaphor in Ricoeur's Thought

The present article explains the notion of symbol and metaphor in Ricoeur's philosophy and tries to consider the relation between them in his whole philosophical perspective to answer the following questions: whether this two notions are the same or each one belongs to completely different realms? What kind of relation is there between tham? whether there is any conceptual or functional relation between them? How Ricoeur utilizes anyone of these notions to extend his hermeneutics?
While explaining these notions, Ricoeur tries to characterize anyone of them through the other, and gets some kind of similarity between the two which can be a source of relation and extension of their meaning. With refering to the linguistic feature of the symbol and metaphor, and thus their interpretative possibility, he thinks a common function between them in the realms of epistemology and ontology.
The present research by concentrating on the discussion of the symbol and metaphor in Ricoeur's hermeneutics can have a profound influence in total understanding of his hermeneutics and in grasping its distinction from the hermeneutics of the other philosophers.