Hermeneutics

Definition

The primary aim of Hermeneutics is to provide accurate interpretations of texts. This is because the meaning that people have put behind their words can be “decoded” in a number of ways. If you doubt this look at the countless interpretations of certain Bible stories or political sentiments. Another reason is also translation of texts to different languages. German Philosophy when translated in English often still loses some of its meaning, regardless of the tediousness that the translators impose on their translations. A literal example is “The World as Will and Representation” by Schopenhauer. The preface of the 1966 Dover volumes details this for several pages. However, that’s beside the point. “Traditionally, disciplines that rely on hermeneutics include theology, especially Biblical studies, jurisprudence, and medicine, as well as some of the human sciences, social sciences, and humanities." (Theodore) Due to its nature it is then often denoted as the “Philosophy of Meaning.” (Botts) Most books I could find related to Hermeneutics were on Biblical Hermeneutics or its history. The sources below are more so focused on Philosophical Hermeneutics, which is how I utilize it in my philosophy of Hermeneutic Pragmatism. This is because “rather than taking a particular approach to meaning, it is concerned with the nature of meaning, understanding, or interpretation." (Botts)

References & Further Reading

Botts, Tina. “Legal Hermeneutics” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Caputo, John. “Hermeneutics: Facts and Interpretation in the Age of Information” Pelican (2018)

Dilthey, Wilhem. “Selected Works, Volume IV: Hermeneutics and the Study of History” (First American Edition) Princeton University Press (1996)

Heidegger, Martin. “Being and Time” (Reprint Edition) Harper Perennial Modern Classics (2008)

Kinsella, Elizabeth. “Hermeneutics and Critical Hermeneutics: Exploring Possibilities Within the Art of Interpretation” Qualitative Social Research Vol. 7, No. 3, Art. 19 (2006)

Risser, James. “Hermeneutics and the Voice of the Other: Re-reading Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics” (First Edition) State University of New York Press (1997)

Schmidt, Lawrence. “Understanding Hermeneutics” (First Edition) Routledge (2006)

Theodore, George. “Hermeneutics” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2021)

Warnke, Georgia. “Gadamer: Hermeneutics, Tradition, and Reason” (First Edition) Stanford University Press (1987)

Zimmermann, Jens. “Hermeneutics: A Very Short Introduction” (Illustrated Edition) Oxford University Press (2015)