Hermeneutics

"Philosophical hermeneutics" redirects here. For other uses, seeHermeneutics (disambiguation).For the history of hermeneutics, seeHistory of hermeneutics.

Friedrich Schleiermacher

Wilhelm Dilthey

Hans-Georg Gadamer

Paul Ricœur

Hermeneutics(/hɜːrməˈnjuːtɪks/)is the theory andmethodologyof interpretation,especially the interpretation ofbiblical texts,wisdom literature,andphilosophical texts.As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication.

Modern hermeneuticsincludes both verbal and non-verbal communication,as well assemiotics,presuppositions,and pre-understandings. Hermeneutics has been broadly applied in thehumanities,especially in law, history and theology.

Hermeneutics was initially applied to the interpretation, orexegesis,ofscripture,and has been later broadened to questions of general interpretation.The termshermeneuticsandexegesisare sometimes used interchangeably. Hermeneutics is a wider discipline which includes written, verbal, and nonverbalcommunication. Exegesis focuses primarily upon the word and grammar oftexts.

Hermeneutic, as acount nounin the singular, refers to some particular method of interpretation (see, in contrast,double hermeneutic).

Etymology

Hermeneuticsis derived from the Greek wordἑρμηνεύω(hermēneuō,"translate, interpret" ),fromἑρμηνεύς(hermeneus,"translator, interpreter" ), of uncertain etymology (R. S. P. Beekes(2009) suggests aPre-Greekorigin).The technical termἑρμηνεία(hermeneia,"interpretation, explanation" ) was introduced into philosophy mainly through the title ofAristotle's workΠερὶ Ἑρμηνείας( "Peri Hermeneias" ), commonly referred to by its Latin titleDe Interpretationeand translated in English asOn Interpretation.It is one of the earliest (c. 360BCE) extant philosophical works in theWestern traditionto deal with the relationship between language and logic in a comprehensive, explicit and formal way.

The early usage of "hermeneutics" places it within the boundaries of thesacred.Adivinemessage must be received with implicit uncertainty regarding its truth. This ambiguity is an irrationality; it is a sort of madness that is inflicted upon the receiver of the message. Only one who possesses a rational method of interpretation (i.e., a hermeneutic) could determine the truth or falsity of the message.

Folk etymology

Hermes,messenger of the gods

Folk etymologyplaces its origin withHermes,the mythological Greekdeitywho was the 'messenger of the gods'.Besides being a mediator among the gods and between the gods and men, he led souls to theunderworldupon death.

Hermes was also considered to be the inventor of language and speech, an interpreter, a liar, a thief and a trickster.These multiple roles made Hermes an ideal representative figure for hermeneutics. As Socrates noted, words have the power to reveal or conceal and can deliver messages in an ambiguous way.The Greek view of language as consisting ofsignsthat could lead to truth or to falsehood was the essence of Hermes, who was said to relish the uneasiness of those who received the messages he delivered.

In religious traditions

Mesopotamian hermeneutics

Further information:Exegesis § Mesopotamian Commentaries

Islamic hermeneutics

Main article:Quranic hermeneutics

Talmudic hermeneutics

Main article:Talmudic hermeneutics

See also:Judaism § Rabbinic hermeneutics

Summaries of the principles by which Torah can be interpreted date back to, at least,Hillel the Elder,although the thirteen principles set forth in theBaraita of Rabbi Ishmaelare perhaps the best known. These principles ranged from standard rules of logic (e.g.,a fortioriargument[known inHebrewas קל וחומר –kal v'chomer]) to more expansive ones, such as the rule that a passage could be interpreted by reference to another passage in which the same word appears (Gezerah Shavah). Therabbisdid not ascribe equal persuasive power to the various principles.

Traditional Jewish hermeneutics differed from the Greek method in that the rabbis considered theTanakh(the Jewish Biblical canon) to be without error. Any apparent inconsistencies had to be understood by means of careful examination of a given text within the context of other texts. There were different levels of interpretation: some were used to arrive at the plain meaning of the text, some expounded the law given in the text, and others foundsecretormysticallevels of understanding.

Vedic hermeneutics

Main article:Mimamsa

Vedic hermeneutics involves the exegesis of theVedas,the earliest holy texts ofHinduism.TheMimamsawas the leading hermeneutic school and their primary purpose was understanding whatDharma(righteous living) involved by a detailed hermeneutic study of the Vedas. They also derived the rules for the various rituals that had to be performed precisely.

The foundational text is theMimamsa SutraofJaimini(ca. 3rd to 1st century BCE) with a major commentary byŚabara(ca. the 5th or 6th century CE). The Mimamsa sutra summed up the basic rules for Vedic interpretation.

Buddhist hermeneutics

Main article:Buddhist hermeneutics

Buddhist hermeneutics deals with the interpretation of the vastBuddhist literature,particularly those texts which are said to be spoken by theBuddha(Buddhavacana) and other enlightened beings. Buddhist hermeneutics is deeply tied to Buddhist spiritual practice and its ultimate aim is to extractskillful meansof reaching spiritual enlightenment ornirvana.A central question in Buddhist hermeneutics is which Buddhist teachings are explicit, representing ultimate truth, and which teachings are merely conventional or relative.

Biblical hermeneutics

Main article:Biblical hermeneutics

Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation of the Bible. While Jewish and Christian biblical hermeneutics have some overlap, they have very different interpretive traditions.

The earlypatristictraditions of biblicalexegesishad few unifying characteristics in the beginning but tended toward unification in later schools of biblical hermeneutics.

Augustineoffers hermeneutics andhomileticsin hisDe doctrina christiana.He stresses the importance of humility in the study of Scripture. He also regards the duplex commandment of love in Matthew 22 as the heart of Christian faith. In Augustine's hermeneutics, signs have an important role. God can communicate with the believer through the signs of the Scriptures. Thus, humility, love, and the knowledge of signs are an essential hermeneutical presupposition for a sound interpretation of the Scriptures. Although Augustine endorses some teaching of thePlatonismof his time, he recasts it according to a theocentric doctrine of the Bible. Similarly, in a practical discipline, he modifies the classical theory of oratory in a Christian way. He underscores the meaning of diligent study of the Bible and prayer as more than mere human knowledge and oratory skills. As a concluding remark, Augustine encourages the interpreter and preacher of the Bible to seek a good manner of life and, most of all, to love God and neighbor.

There is traditionally a fourfold sense of biblical hermeneutics: literal, moral, allegorical (spiritual), and anagogical.

Literal

See also:Biblical literalism

Encyclopædia Britannica states that literal analysis means “a biblical text is to be deciphered according to the ‘plain meaning’ expressed by its linguistic construction and historical context.” The intention of the authors is believed to correspond to the literal meaning. Literal hermeneutics is often associated with the verbal inspiration of the Bible.

Moral

Moral interpretation searches for moral lessons which can be understood from writings within the Bible. Allegories are often placed in this category.

Allegorical

Allegorical interpretation states that biblical narratives have a second level of reference that is more than the people, events and things that are explicitly mentioned. One type of allegorical interpretation is known astypological,where the key figures, events, and establishments of the Old Testament are viewed as “types” (patterns). In the New Testament this can also include foreshadowing of people, objects, and events. According to this theory, readings like Noah's Ark could be understood by using the Ark as a “type” of the Christian church that God designed from the start.

Anagogical

This type of interpretation is more often known as mystical interpretation. It claims to explain the events of the Bible and how they relate to or predict what the future holds. This is evident in theJewish Kabbalah,which attempts to reveal the mystical significance of the numerical values ofHebrewwords and letters.

In Judaism,anagogical interpretationis also evident in the medievalZohar.In Christianity, it can be seen inMariology.

Philosophical hermeneutics

Ancient and medieval hermeneutics

Main article:History of hermeneutics

Modern hermeneutics

The discipline of hermeneutics emerged with the newhumanisteducation of the 15th century as a historical and criticalmethodologyfor analyzing texts. In a triumph of early modern hermeneutics, the Italian humanistLorenzo Vallaproved in 1440 that theDonation of Constantinewas a forgery. This was done through intrinsic evidence of the text itself. Thus hermeneutics expanded from its medieval role of explaining the true meaning of the Bible.

However, biblical hermeneutics did not die off. For example, theProtestant Reformationbrought about a renewed interest in the interpretation of the Bible, which took a step away from the interpretive tradition developed during the Middle Ages back to the texts themselves.Martin LutherandJohn Calvinemphasizedscriptura sui ipsius interpres(scripture interprets itself). Calvin usedbrevitas et facilitasas an aspect oftheological hermeneutics.

The rationalistEnlightenmentled hermeneutists, especiallyProtestantexegetists, to view Scriptural texts as secular classical texts. They interpreted Scripture as responses to historical or social forces so that, for example, apparent contradictions and difficult passages in the New Testament might be clarified by comparing their possible meanings with contemporary Christian practices.

Friedrich Schleiermacher(1768–1834) explored the nature of understanding in relation not just to the problem of deciphering sacred texts but to all human texts and modes of communication.

The interpretation of a text must proceed by framing its content in terms of the overall organization of the work. Schleiermacher distinguished between grammatical interpretation and psychological interpretation. The former studies how a work is composed from general ideas; the latter studies the peculiar combinations that characterize the work as a whole. He said that every problem of interpretation is a problem of understanding and even defined hermeneutics as the art of avoiding misunderstanding. Misunderstanding was to be avoided by means of knowledge of grammatical and psychological laws.

During Schleiermacher's time, a fundamental shift occurred from understanding not merely the exact words and their objective meaning, to an understanding of the writer's distinctive character and point of view.

Nineteenth- and twentieth-century hermeneutics emerged as a theory of understanding (Verstehen) through the work ofFriedrich Schleiermacher(Romantichermeneuticsandmethodologicalhermeneutics),August Böckh(methodological hermeneutics),Wilhelm Dilthey(epistemologicalhermeneutics),Martin Heidegger(ontologicalhermeneutics,hermeneutic phenomenology,andtranscendental hermeneutic phenomenology),Hans-Georg Gadamer(ontological hermeneutics),Leo Strauss(Straussian hermeneutics),Paul Ricœur(hermeneutic phenomenology),Walter Benjamin(Marxist hermeneutics),Ernst Bloch(Marxist hermeneutics),Jacques Derrida(radical hermeneutics,namelydeconstruction),Richard Kearney(diacritical hermeneutics),Fredric Jameson(Marxist hermeneutics),andJohn Thompson(critical hermeneutics).

Regarding the relation of hermeneutics with problems ofanalytic philosophy,there has been, particularly among analytic Heideggerians and those working on Heidegger'sphilosophy of science,an attempt to try and situate Heidegger's hermeneutic project in debates concerningrealismandanti-realism:arguments have been presented both for Heidegger'shermeneutic idealism(the thesis that meaning determinesreferenceor, equivalently, that our understanding of the being of entities is what determines entities as entities)and for Heidegger'shermeneutic realism(the thesis that (a) there is a nature in itself and science can give us an explanation of how that nature works, and (b) that (a) is compatible with the ontological implications of our everyday practices).

Philosophers that worked to combine analytic philosophy with hermeneutics includeGeorg Henrik von WrightandPeter Winch.Roy J. Howard termed this approachanalytic hermeneutics.

Other contemporary philosophers influenced by the hermeneutic tradition includeCharles Taylor(engagedhermeneutics)andDagfinn Føllesdal.

Dilthey (1833–1911)

Wilhelm Diltheybroadened hermeneutics even more by relating interpretation to historical objectification. Understanding moves from the outer manifestations of human action and productivity to the exploration of their inner meaning. In his last important essay, "The Understanding of Other Persons and Their Manifestations of Life" (1910), Dilthey made clear that this move from outer to inner, from expression to what is expressed, is not based onempathy,understood as a direct identification with theOther.Interpretation, on a hermeneutical conception of empathyinvolves an indirect or mediated understanding that can only be attained by placing human expressions in their historical context. Thus, understanding is not a process of reconstructing the state of mind of the author, but one of articulating what is expressed in his work.

Dilthey divided sciences of the mind (human sciences) into three structural levels: experience, expression, and comprehension.

• Experience means to feel a situation or thing personally. Dilthey suggested that we can always grasp the meaning of unknown thought when we try to experience it. His understanding of experience is very similar to that ofphenomenologistEdmund Husserl.
• Expression converts experience into meaning because the discourse has an appeal to someone outside of oneself. Every saying is an expression. Dilthey suggested that one can always return to an expression, especially to its written form, and this practice has the same objective value as an experiment in science. The possibility of returning makes scientific analysis possible, and therefore the humanities may be labeled as science. Moreover, he assumed that an expression may be "saying" more than the speaker intends because the expression brings forward meanings which the individual consciousness may not fully understand.
• The last structural level of the science of the mind, according to Dilthey, is comprehension, which is a level that contains both comprehension and incomprehension. Incomprehension means, more or less,wrong understanding.He assumed that comprehension produces coexistence: "he who understands, understands others; he who does not understand stays alone."

Heidegger (1889–1976)

In the 20th century,Martin Heidegger's philosophical hermeneutics shifted the focus from interpretation toexistentialunderstanding as rooted in fundamental ontology, which was treated more as a direct—and thus more authentic—way of being-in-the-world (In-der-Welt-sein) than merely as "a way of knowing."For example, he called for a "special hermeneutic of empathy" to dissolve the classic philosophic issue of "other minds" by putting the issue in the context of the being-with of human relatedness. (Heidegger himself did not complete this inquiry.)

Advocates of this approach claim that some texts, and the people who produce them, cannot be studied by means of using the samescientific methodsthat are used in thenatural sciences,thus drawing upon arguments similar to those ofantipositivism.Moreover, they claim that such texts are conventionalized expressions of the experience of the author. Thus, the interpretation of such texts will reveal something about thesocial contextin which they were formed, and, more significantly, will provide the reader with a means of sharing the experiences of the author.

The reciprocity between text and context is part of what Heidegger called thehermeneutic circle.Among the key thinkers who elaborated this idea was thesociologistMax Weber.

Gadamer (1900–2002)

Hans-Georg Gadamer's hermeneutics is a development of the hermeneutics of his teacher, Heidegger. Gadamer asserted that methodical contemplation is opposite to experience and reflection. We can reach the truth only by understanding or mastering our experience. According to Gadamer, our understanding is not fixed but rather is changing and always indicating new perspectives. The most important thing is to unfold the nature of individual understanding.

Gadamer pointed out that prejudice is an element of our understanding and is notper sewithout value. Indeed, prejudices, in the sense of pre-judgements of the thing we want to understand, are unavoidable. Being alien to a particular tradition is a condition of our understanding. He said that we can never step outside of our tradition—all we can do is try to understand it. This further elaborates the idea of thehermeneutic circle.

New hermeneutic

New hermeneuticis the theory and methodology of interpretation to understand Biblical texts throughexistentialism.The essence of new hermeneutic emphasizes not only the existence of language but also the fact that language is eventualized in the history of individual life.This is called the event of language.Ernst Fuchs,Gerhard Ebeling,andJames M. Robinsonare the scholars who represent the new hermeneutics.

Marxist hermeneutics

The method ofMarxist hermeneuticshas been developed by the work of, primarily,Walter BenjaminandFredric Jameson.Benjamin outlines his theory of the allegory in his studyUrsprung des deutschen Trauerspiels( "Trauerspiel" literally means "mourning play" but is often translated as "tragic drama" ).Fredric Jamesondraws on Biblical hermeneutics,Ernst Bloch,and the work ofNorthrop Frye,to advance his theory of Marxist hermeneutics in his influentialThe Political Unconscious.Jameson's Marxist hermeneutics is outlined in the first chapter of the book, titled "On Interpretation"Jameson re-interprets (and secularizes) the fourfold system (or four levels) of Biblical exegesis (literal; moral; allegorical; anagogical) to relate interpretation to themode of production,and eventually, history.

Objective hermeneutics

Karl Popperfirst used the term "objective hermeneutics"in hisObjective Knowledge(1972).

In 1992, the Association for Objective Hermeneutics (AGOH) was founded inFrankfurt am Mainby scholars of various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Its goal is to provide all scholars who use the methodology of objective hermeneutics with a means of exchanging information.

In one of the few translated texts of this German school of hermeneutics, its founders declared:

Our approach has grown out of the empirical study of family interactions as well as reflection upon the procedures of interpretation employed in our research. For the time being we shall refer to it as objective hermeneutics in order to distinguish it clearly from traditional hermeneutic techniques and orientations. The general significance for sociological analysis of objective hermeneutics issues from the fact that, in the social sciences, interpretive methods constitute the fundamental procedures of measurement and of the generation of research data relevant to theory. From our perspective, the standard, nonhermeneutic methods of quantitative social research can only be justified because they permit a shortcut in generating data (and research "economy" comes about under specific conditions). Whereas the conventional methodological attitude in the social sciences justifies qualitative approaches as exploratory or preparatory activities, to be succeeded by standardized approaches and techniques as the actual scientific procedures (assuring precision, validity, and objectivity), we regard hermeneutic procedures as the basic method for gaining precise and valid knowledge in the social sciences. However, we do not simply reject alternative approaches dogmatically. They are in fact useful wherever the loss in precision and objectivity necessitated by the requirement of research economy can be condoned and tolerated in the light of prior hermeneutically elucidated research experiences.

Other recent developments

Bernard Lonergan's (1904–1984) hermeneutics is less well known, but a case for considering his work as the culmination of thepostmodernhermeneutical revolution that began with Heidegger was made in several articles by Lonergan specialistFrederick G. Lawrence.

Paul Ricœur(1913–2005) developed a hermeneutics that is based upon Heidegger's concepts. His work differs in many ways from that of Gadamer.

Karl-Otto Apel(b. 1922) elaborated a hermeneutics based on Americansemiotics.He applied his model todiscourse ethicswith political motivations akin to those ofcritical theory.

Jürgen Habermas(b. 1929) criticized the conservatism of previous hermeneutists, especially Gadamer, because their focus on tradition seemed to undermine possibilities for social criticism and transformation. He also criticizedMarxismand previous members of theFrankfurt Schoolfor missing the hermeneutical dimension ofcritical theory.

Habermas incorporated the notion of thelifeworldand emphasized the importance for social theory of interaction, communication, labor, and production. He viewed hermeneutics as a dimension of critical social theory.

Rudolf Makkreel(b. 1939) has proposed an orientational hermeneutics that brings out the contextualizing function of reflective judgment. It extends ideas ofKantandDiltheyto supplement the dialogical approach ofGadamerwith a diagnostic approach that can deal with an ever-changing and multicultural world.

Andrés Ortiz-Osés(1943–2021) developed hissymbolic hermeneuticsas theMediterraneanresponse toNorthern Europeanhermeneutics. His main statement regarding symbolic understanding of the world is thatmeaningis asymbolichealing of injury.

Two other important hermeneutic scholars areJean Grondin(b. 1955) andMaurizio Ferraris(b. 1956).

Mauricio Beuchot coined the term and discipline ofanalogic hermeneutics,which is a type of hermeneutics that is based upon interpretation and takes into account the plurality of aspects of meaning. He drew categories both from analytic and continental philosophy, as well as from thehistory of thought.

Two scholars who have published criticism of Gadamer's hermeneutics are the Italian juristEmilio Bettiand the American literary theoristE. D. Hirsch.

Applications

Archaeology

Inarchaeology,hermeneutics means the interpretation and understanding of material through analysis of possible meanings and social uses.

Proponents argue that interpretation of artifacts is unavoidably hermeneutic because we cannot know for certain the meaning behind them. We can only apply modern values when interpreting. This is most commonly seen instone tools,where descriptions such as "scraper" can be highly subjective and actually unproven until the development ofmicrowear analysissome thirty years ago.

Opponents argue that a hermeneutic approach is toorelativistand that their own interpretations are based oncommon-senseevaluation.

Architecture

There are several traditions of architectural scholarship that draw upon the hermeneutics ofHeideggerandGadamer,such asChristian Norberg-Schulz,andNader El-Bizriin the circles ofphenomenology.Lindsay Jones examines the way architecture is received and how that reception changes with time and context (e.g., how a building is interpreted by critics, users, and historians).Dalibor Veselysituates hermeneutics within a critique of the application of overly scientific thinking to architecture.This tradition fits within a critique of theEnlightenmentand has also informed design-studio teaching.Adrian Snodgrasssees the study of history and Asian cultures by architects as a hermeneutical encounter with otherness.He also deploys arguments from hermeneutics to explain design as a process of interpretation.Along withRichard Coyne,he extends the argument to the nature of architectural education and design.

Education

Hermeneutics motivates a broad range of applications in educational theory. The connection between hermeneutics and education has deep historical roots. The ancient Greeks gave the interpretation of poetry a central place in educational practice, as indicated by Dilthey: "systematic exegesis (hermeneia) of the poets developed out of the demands of the educational system. "

Gadamer more recently wrote on the topic of education,and more recent treatments of educational issues across various hermeneutical approaches are to be found in Fairfieldand Gallagher.

Environment

Environmental hermeneuticsapplies hermeneutics to environmental issues conceived broadly to subjects including "nature"and"wilderness"(both terms are matters of hermeneutical contention), landscapes, ecosystems, built environments (where it overlaps architectural hermeneutics), inter-species relationships, the relationship of the body to the world, and more.

International relations

Insofar as hermeneutics is a basis of bothcritical theoryandconstitutive theory(both of which have made important inroads into thepostpositivistbranch ofinternational relations theoryandpolitical science), it has been applied to international relations.

Steve Smithrefers to hermeneutics as the principal way of grounding foundationalist yet postpositivist theory ofinternational relations.

Radicalpostmodernismis an example of a postpositivistanti-foundationalistparadigmof international relations.

Law

Main articles:JurisprudenceandLaw

Some scholars argue that law and theology are particular forms of hermeneutics because of their need to interpret legal tradition or scriptural texts. Moreover, the problem of interpretation has been central tolegal theorysince at least the 11th century.

In theMiddle AgesandItalian Renaissance,the schools ofglossatores,commentatores,andusus modernusdistinguished themselves by their approach to the interpretation of "laws" (mainlyJustinian'sCorpus Juris Civilis). TheUniversity of Bolognagave birth to a "legal Renaissance" in the 11th century, when the Corpus Juris Civilis was rediscovered and systematically studied by men such asIrneriusandJohannes Gratian.It was an interpretative Renaissance. Subsequently, these were fully developed byThomas AquinasandAlberico Gentili.

Since then, interpretation has always been at the center of legal thought.Friedrich Carl von SavignyandEmilio Betti,among others, made significant contributions to general hermeneutics.Legal interpretivism,most famouslyRonald Dworkin's, may be seen as a branch of philosophical hermeneutics.

Phenomenology

Main articles:Phenomenology (philosophy)andHermeneutic phenomenology

Inqualitative research,the beginnings ofphenomenologystem from German philosopher and researcherEdmund Husserl.In his early days, Husserl studied mathematics, but over time his disinterest with empirical methods led him to philosophy and eventually phenomenology. Husserl's phenomenology inquires on the specifics of a certain experience or experiences and attempts to unfold the meaning of experience in everyday life.Phenomenology started as philosophy and then developed into methodology over time. American researcherDon Ihdecontributed to phenomenological research methodology through what he described as experimental phenomenology: “Phenomenology, in the first instance, is like an investigative science, an essential component of which is an experiment.”His work contributed heavily to the implementation of phenomenology as a methodology.

The beginnings of hermeneutic phenomenology stem from a German researcher and student of Husserl,Martin Heidegger.Both researchers attempted to pull out the lived experiences of others through philosophical concepts, but Heidegger's main difference from Husserl was his belief that consciousness was not separate from the world but a formation of who we are as living individuals.Hermeneutic phenomenology stresses that every event or encounter involves some type of interpretation from an individual's background, and that we cannot separate this from an individual's development through life.Ihde also focuses on hermeneutic phenomenology within his early work, and draws connections between Husserl and French philosopherPaul Ricoeur's work in the field.Ricoeur focuses on the importance of symbols and linguistics within hermeneutic phenomenology.Overall, hermeneutic phenomenological research focuses on historical meanings and experiences, and their developmental and social effects on individuals.

Political philosophy

Italian philosopherGianni Vattimoand Spanish philosopherSantiago Zabalain their bookHermeneutic Communism,when discussing contemporary capitalist regimes, stated that, "A politics of descriptions does not impose power in order to dominate as a philosophy; rather, it is functional for the continued existence of a society of dominion, which pursues truth in the form of imposition (violence), conservation (realism), and triumph (history)."

Vattimo and Zabala also stated that they viewinterpretation as anarchyand affirmed that "existence is interpretation" and that "hermeneutics is weak thought."

Psychoanalysis

See also:Freud and Philosophy

Psychoanalysts have made ample use of hermeneutics sinceSigmund Freudfirst gave birth to their discipline. In 1900 Freud wrote that the title he chose forThe Interpretation of Dreams'makes plain which of the traditional approaches to the problem of dreams I am inclined to follow...[i.e.] "interpreting" a dream implies assigning a "meaning" to it.'

The French psychoanalystJacques Lacanlater extended Freudian hermeneutics into other psychical realms. His early work from the 1930s–50s is particularly influenced by Heidegger, andMaurice Merleau-Ponty's hermeneutical phenomenology.

Psychology and cognitive science

See also:Postcognitivism

PsychologistsandCognitive sciencehave recently become interested in hermeneutics, especially as an alternative tocognitivism.

Hubert Dreyfus's critique of conventionalartificial intelligencehas been influential among psychologists who are interested in hermeneutic approaches to meaning and interpretation, as discussed by philosophers such asMartin Heidegger(cf.Embodied cognition) andLudwig Wittgenstein(cf.Discursive psychology).

Hermeneutics is also influential inhumanistic psychology.

Religion and theology

See also:Exegesis,Biblical hermeneutics,Talmudical hermeneutics,Quranic hermeneutics,andProgressive illumination

The understanding of atheologicaltextdepends upon the reader's particular hermeneutical viewpoint. Some theorists, such asPaul Ricœur,have applied modern philosophical hermeneutics to theological texts (in Ricœur's case, the Bible).

Mircea Eliade,as a hermeneutist, understands religion as 'experience of the sacred', and interprets the sacred in relation to the profane.The Romanian scholar underlines that the relation between the sacred and the profane is not of opposition, but of complementarity, having interpreted the profane as ahierophany.The hermeneutics of the myth is a part of the hermeneutics of religion. Myth should not be interpreted as an illusion or a lie, because there is truth in myth to be rediscovered.Myth is interpreted by Mircea Eliade as 'sacred history'. He introduces the concept of 'total hermeneutics'.

Safety science

In the field of safety science, and especially in the study ofhuman reliability,scientists have become increasingly interested in hermeneutic approaches.

It has been proposed byergonomistDonald Taylor thatmechanistmodels of human behaviour will only take us so far in terms of accident reduction, and that safety science must look at the meaning of accidents for human beings.

Other scholars in the field have attempted to create safetytaxonomiesthat make use of hermeneutic concepts in terms of their categorisation ofqualitative data.

Sociology

Insociology,hermeneutics is the interpretation and understanding of social events through analysis of their meanings for the human participants in the events. It enjoyed prominence during the 1960s and 1970s, and differs from other interpretive schools of sociology in that it emphasizes both contextand form within any given social behaviour.

The central principle of sociological hermeneutics is that it is only possible to know the meaning of an act or statement within the context of the discourse orworld viewfrom which it originates. Context is critical to comprehension; an action or event that carries substantial weight to one person or culture may be viewed as meaningless or entirely different to another. For example, giving the "thumbs-up" gesture is widely accepted as a sign of a job well done in the United States, while other cultures view it as an insult.Similarly, marking a piece of paper and putting it into a box might be considered a meaningless act unless it is put into the context of an election (the act of putting aballot paperinto a box).

Friedrich Schleiermacher,widely regarded as the father of sociological hermeneutics believed that, in order for an interpreter to understand the work of another author, they must familiarize themselves with the historical context in which the author published their thoughts. His work led to the inspiration of Heidegger's "hermeneutic circle"a frequently referenced model that claims one's understanding of individual parts of a text is based on their understanding of the whole text, while the understanding of the whole text is dependent on the understanding of each individual part.Hermeneutics in sociology was also heavily influenced by German philosopherHans-Georg Gadamer.

Criticism

Jürgen HabermascriticizesGadamer'shermeneutics as being unsuitable for understanding society because it is unable to account for questions of social reality, like labor and domination.

See also

• Allegorical interpretations of Plato
• Authorial intentionalism
• Biblical law in Christianity
• Close reading
• Gymnobiblism
• Hermeneutics of suspicion
• Historical poetics
• Narrative inquiry
• Parallelomania
• Pesher
• Philology
• Principle of charity
• Quranic hermeneutics
• Reader-response criticism
• Structuration theory
• Symbolic anthropology
• Tafsir
• Talmudical hermeneutics
• Text criticism
• Theosophy
• Truth theory

Notable precursors

• Johann August Ernesti
• Johann Gottfried Herder
• Friedrich August Wolf
• Georg Anton Friedrich Ast

Bibliography

• Aristotle,On Interpretation,Harold P. Cooke (trans.), inAristotle,vol. 1 (Loeb Classical Library), pp. 111–179. London:William Heinemann,1938.
• Clingerman, F. and B. Treanor, M. Drenthen, D. Ustler (2013),Interpreting Nature: The Emerging Field of Environmental Hermeneutics,New York: Fordham University Press.
• De La Torre, Miguel A.,"Reading the Bible from the Margins," Orbis Books, 2002.
• Fellmann, Ferdinand,"Symbolischer Pragmatismus. Hermeneutik nach Dilthey",Rowohlts deutsche Enzyklopädie,1991.
• Forster, Michael N.,After Herder: Philosophy of Language in the German Tradition,Oxford University Press, 2010.
• Ginev, Dimitri,Essays in the Hermeneutics of Science,Routledge, 2018.
• Khan, Ali,"The Hermeneutics of Sexual Order".
• Köchler, Hans,"Zum Gegenstandsbereich der Hermeneutik", inPerspektiven der Philosophie,vol. 9 (1983), pp. 331–341.
• Köchler, Hans, "Philosophical Foundations of Civilizational Dialogue: The Hermeneutics of Cultural Self-comprehension versus the Paradigm of Civilizational Conflict."International Seminar on Civilizational Dialogue (3rd: 15–17 September 1997: Kuala Lumpur),BP171.5 ISCD. Kertas kerja persidangan / conference papers. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Library, 1997.
• Mantzavinos, C.Naturalistic Hermeneutics,Cambridge University Press, 2005.ISBN978-0-521-84812-1.
• Oevermann, U. et al. (1987): "Structures of meaning and objective Hermeneutics." In: Meha, V. et al. (eds.).Modern German Sociology.European Perspectives: a Series in Social Thought and Cultural Ctiticism. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 436–447.
• Olesen, Henning Salling, ed. (2013): "Cultural Analysis and In-Depth Hermeneutics."Historical Social Research,Focus, 38, no. 2, pp. 7–157.
• Przyłębski, Andrzej.Ethics in the Light of Hermeneutical Philosophy,LIT Verlag, Zurich 2017.
• Przyłębski, Andrzej.The Value of Motherland: An Introduction to a Hermeneutic Philosophy of Politics,LIT Verlag, Zurich 2022.
• Wierciński, Andrzej.Hermeneutics between Philosophy and Theology: The Imperative to Think the Incommensurable,Germany, Münster: LIT Verlag, 2010.

External links

• Abductive Inference and Literary theory – Pragmatism, Hermeneutics and SemioticsArchived4 June 2013 at theWayback Machinewritten by Uwe Wirth.
• Meta: Research in Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, and Practical Philosophy– International peer-reviewed journal.
• Objective Hermeneutics Bibliographic Databaseprovided by theAssociation for Objective Hermeneutics.
• de Berg, Henk:Gadamer's Hermeneutics: An Introduction(2015)
• de Berg, Henk:Ricoeur's Hermeneutics: An Introduction(2015)
• Palmer, Richard E.,"The Liminality of Hermes and the Meaning of Hermeneutics"
• Palmer, Richard E., "The Relevance of Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics to Thirty-Six Topics or Fields of Human Activity", Lecture Delivered at the Department of Philosophy, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 1 April 1999,Eprint.
• Plato,Ion,Paul Woodruff (trans.) in Plato,Complete Works,ed. John M. Cooper. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1997, pp. 937–949.
• Quintana Paz, Miguel Ángel,"On Hermeneutical Ethics and Education",a paper on the relevance of Gadamer's Hermeneutics for our understanding of Music, Ethics and our Education in both.
• Szesnat, Holger, "Philosophical Hermeneutics",Webpage.