This book argues that a basic problem in thinking about understanding, temporality and selfhood is due to "imitative" modes of thought found in much traditional Western philosophy and theology. Given this, the book examines the complex role that "image" and "imitation" play in understanding and its world of meaning, the import of language and narrative for configuring human temporality, and the existence of the self. In the first chapter, the book details the use of imitation in classical and modern interpretation theory, metaphysics, ethics and theology as well as the current criticisms of it. The author then considers the thoughts of Hans-Georg Gadamer on understanding, Paul Ricoeur regarding narrative and temporality, and Soren Kierkegaard concerning the self. In the final chapter of the book, Schweiker turns explicitly to theology and ethics. He responds to the recent critics of mimesis showing how his understanding of it overcomes their positions and advances thought in constructive directions. The author then presents the import of the argument for religious and moral reflection while acknowledging that a complete ethic or theology is beyond the scope of this work.
Thus the book proposes a religious hermeneutic appropriate for ongoing tasks of theology and ethics.