Paul Ricoeur, in his move to hermeneutics from phenomenology, embarked on a philosophical enquiry that led him to consider certain religiously related topics: the nature of the free yet bound will, human fallibility, and the role of symbolism and myth. In further investigations he struggled with the problem of evil and suffering which he understood to be virtually endemic to the human species. In the last 20 years of his life he explored ways to help alleviate this continuing problem, especially in the form of an ontologically related ethical concern with recognition of the other and justice.