Ce recueil vise à interroger un versant moins connu, mais essentiel, de la pensée de Gadamer, sa méditation des philosophes grecs, des Présocratiques à Plotin, qui occupe un tiers de ses œuvres complètes.

In this essay, the author maintains that Gadamer’s affirmation of the relation among art, truth, and beauty is less a sign of conservatism or nostalgia than it is a key to his innovative and insightful examination of our experience of art. Gadamer’s approach to both the truth claim and the beauty of art flows from his association of the being of art with enactment (Vollzug). Yet, increasingly over the course of his writings, Gadamer appears to relinquishes talk (...) of art in this sense as a ,work‘ in favor of an emphasis on the kinship between art and the phenomenon of play. In light of this shift, it is argued that Gadamer’s conception of the truth claim and beauty of art may best be understood not as properties of a product or artifact, of something already enacted and thus complete in itself, but, instead, as nothing other than the very enacting of that freedom which he finds at the heart of human play. (shrink)

This article examines the hermeneutics as a basis of critique in the work of Gianni Vattimo and Hans-Georg Gadamer.

O presente trabalho objetiva discutir as possíveis contribuições da Hermenêutica Filosófica de Gadamer para a pesquisa em Psicologia. Nessa direção, parte da problematização do modo como o conhecimento é produzido na Psicologia, com realce para a insuficiência do horizonte técnico-científico para aproximar-se dos fenômenos humanos. Recorre à Hermenêutica Filosófica de Gadamer na busca do desvelamento de outras possibilidades para tal fazer. Para tanto, parte da compreensão da hermenêutica, não na função de método, mas compreendida como condição humana originária. (...) Aborda inicialmente o reconhecimento da influência de Heidegger para o desenvolvimento da Hermenêutica Filosófica de Gadamer e, em seguida, tece uma possível articulação entre o horizonte aberto por Gadamer e a pesquisa em Psicologia, enfocando as compreensões do filósofo acerca da compreensão, do jogo e do diálogo. Por fim, ressalta as contribuições abertas pela Hermenêutica Filosófica para descortinar “direcionamentos” inspiradores às pesquisas no contexto da Psicologia na busca de compreender os fenômenos existenciais. Tal caminho, na medida em que não busca conclusões teoréticas e explicativas, ao manter-se na direção da pergunta, realça a dimensão compreensiva e hermenêutica originária da existência como radicalmente singular e possibilita a tessitura de diálogos entre Psicologia e Hermenêutica Filosófica. (shrink)

By way of engagement with the thought of Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Heidegger, Lonergan, and neo-Thomism more broadly, Michael Baur and Gadamer discuss historicity, the Enlightenment and scientism, the epistemic implications of hylomorphism, and the nature of human finitude and death.

The purpose of this article is to examine Gadamer's criticism of Collingwood's re-enactment. A parallel concern is the evaluation of Collingwood's hermeneutics of history. Given that Collingwood can be read as a hermeneutic thinker, what is the impact of Gadamer's critique of re-enactment? My response to this question focuses on the dual significance of completeness for hermeneutics. The fore-conception of completeness, on the one hand, presupposes meaningfulness. The incompleteness of meaning, on the other hand, shows that the finite (...) human can never arrive at a perfect explanation. The fusion of horizons is created by the tension that exists between completeness and incompleteness. According to Gadamer, the lack of a clear distinction between the two notions of completeness leads Collingwood to a historicist position exemplified by re-enactment. I review Collingwood's books to demonstrate that, pace Gadamer, both notions of completeness are central to Collingwood's philosophy, guaranteeing the hermeneutical stance of his thought. However, what substantiates Gadamer's dissatisfaction with re-enactment is Collingwood's insufficient grasp of the difference between human historicity and the practice of professional history. I argue that while Collingwood is correct to indicate the inferential procedure of the writing of a political history, he nevertheless forgets that the historian is still a finite human being conditioned by historical situatedness. (shrink)

Presents 3 hermeneutic answers to the problem of relativism. The 1st answer is drawn from L. Wittgenstein's anthropological hermeneutics. Wittgenstein went beyond relativism by making explicit universal anthropological categories that are specified differently in different cultures. The 2nd answer lies in H.-G. Gadamer's historical hermeneutics. By introducing the concepts of tradition and fusion of horizons, Gadamer evades both absolutism and relativism. The 3rd answer is developed by J. Habermas in his critical hermeneutics. By situating communicative action in the (...) life-world, and stressing the possibility of discussion and critique, Habermas can ascertain that there is no absolute truth without having to surrender to relativism. 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (shrink)

One important element in Lonergan’s philosophical work is the attempt to demonstrate the essential continuity between Aristotle’s thought and the explanatory viewpoint of modern science. Among other things, this attempt is meant to serve a two-fold purpose: first of all, to defend both Aristotle’s intellectualist metaphysics and the explanatory aspirations of modern science over against the caricatured representations of each which grew out of the Renaissance debate between the Aristotelians and the proponents of modern science; and secondly, to demonstrate the (...) intrinsic limitations of modern scientific humanism in much the same way that Aquinas tried to demonstrate the essential incompleteness of Aristotle’s non-Christian world view. Now Gadamer would not deny that there is an essential continuity in thought from Aristotle to modern science; in fact, he explicitly affirms such a continuity. And like Lonergan, Gadamer insists that modern science must play a legitimate, though restricted, role within contemporary culture. Given these and other important similarities between Gadamer and Lonergan, it may be difficult to see just where the grounds for possible disagreement lie. As a result, Gadamer’s reservations concerning Lonergan’s philosophical project may appear to be somewhat puzzling. In what follows, I shall try to shed light on some of the reasons for Gadamer’s reservations. (shrink)

This paper re-examines the central thesis of Gadamer’s hermeneutics that objectivity is not a suitable ideal for understanding a text, historical event, or cultural phenomenon because there exists no one correct interpretation of such phenomena. Because Gadamer fails to make clear the grounds for this claim, this paper considers three possible arguments. The first, predominant in the literature on Gadamer, is built on the premise that we cannot surpass our historically situated prejudgments. The paper rejects this argument (...) as insufficient. Similarly, the paper rejects a second argument concerning the heuristics of understanding. The paper then articulates a third argument that the object of understanding changes according to the conditions in which it is grasped. The paper appeals to the notion of relational properties to make sense of this claim and to defend the position against two objections: i) that it conflates meaning and significance, and ii) that it is saddled with an indefensible relativism. (shrink)

Following some remarks of Jacques Taminiaux on Gadamer, I examine the permeating presence of history and alterity in interpretation by contrasting Gadamer’s views with Davidson’s notion of “radical interpretation.” I start by examining the debate they held with each other on several occasions. I then analyze Gadamer’s understanding of interpretation as a “hermeneutic experience” and Davidson’s method of “triangulation.” They both agree that interpretation should be free from the psychological turmoil of either divining an author’s intent or (...) projecting the reader’s expectations. The fundamental difference is that, for Davidson, interpretation is an ahistorical process taking place in the synchrony of interpreter and observed subjects, whereas for Gadamer interpretation is a historical “event,” in which something “happens” and contributes to the making of history. (shrink)

Hans Georg-Gadamer is best known in the English-speaking world for his major work on philosophical hermeneutics, _Truth and Method;_ he has also written extensively on the subject of Plato. Most commentators on Gadamer's work therefore view Gadamer either as a historian of philosophy or as a philosopher in his own right, critically engaged in the philosophical issues of our time. In _Beyond Being,_ Brice R. Wachterhauser contends that this perceived bifurcation in Gadamer's work oversimplifies and distorts (...) important parts of Gadamer's thought. Wachterhauser argues that only by viewing Gadamer's contribution to philosophy as an integrated whole and by reading Gadamer's hermeneutical studies in light of his Plato studies are we able to avoid certain key misunderstandings of Gadamer, as well as to comprehend more clearly the radical implications of Gadamer's thought. (shrink)

The aim of the paper is to present moral philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre in its relation to Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutics. For that purpose, his specific understanding of the tradition, a mode of its relation with an individual, and the distinction between practical and theoretical knowledge are discussed in the paper. Considered primarily as Thomist and Marxist thinker, MacIntyre’s conceptions emerge as strongly influenced by continental hermeneutics. From the hermeneutical point of view, some key elements of MacIntyre’s thought can be (...) understood in a new way, enabling in this way to overcome the most commonly expressed reservations formulated against his views.Key words MORAL PHILOSOPHY, HERMENEUTICS. (shrink)

This book deals with the question of understanding religion and its relationship with politics in the context of developing countries. It reviews specific theories, such as modernisation theory, marxism, liberalism, hermeneutics and critical approach to explain questions related to religion and religious traditions. The book focuses on the recent attempts to theorise religion by Jurgen Habermas. It argues modernisation and orthodox Marxian theory are inadequate in understanding the recent spurt of religious phenomenon in politics. It discusses Hans-Georg Gadamer’s view (...) to show a way forward regarding dialectical hermeneutics in facilitating a dialogue between different traditions and religions. The book is of interest to students, scholars, practitioners of development, and all those who concern themselves with the questions of religion, tradition, modernity and secular well-being in developing countries such as India and beyond. (shrink)

Three things occur in this introductory article to a volume of the South African Journal of Philosophy in tribute of Hans- Georg Gadamer who died on March 14, 2002, at the age of 102. First, some historical details of Gadamer's life are provided. Second, the nine articles in the volume are briefly introduced. The authors are Denis Schmidt (the only non- South African), Anton van Niekerk, Bert Olivier, Andrea Hurst, Leon Fouché, Danie Strauss, Pieter Duvenage, Nirmala Pillay and (...) Gerald Pillay. Finally, short remarks are made about the relevance of Gadamer's work, and particularly his contribution to “understanding the nature of understanding”, for the South African situation. S. Afr. J. Philos. Vol.21(4) 2002: 219-222. (shrink)

Following some remarks of Jacques Taminiaux on Gadamer, I examine the permeating presence of history and alterity in interpretation by contrasting Gadamer’s views with Davidson’s notion of “radical interpretation.” I start by examining the debate they held with each other on several occasions. I then analyze Gadamer’s understanding of interpretation as a “hermeneutic experience” and Davidson’s method of “triangulation.” They both agree that interpretation should be free from the psychological turmoil of either divining an author’s intent or (...) projecting the reader’s expectations. The fundamental difference is that, for Davidson, interpretation is an ahistorical process taking place in the synchrony of interpreter and observed subjects, whereas for Gadamer interpretation is a historical “event,” in which something “happens” and contributes to the making of history. (shrink)

This paper explores the political implications of the tension between tradition and dialogue in Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneu tics. The premise of the paper is this: Gadamer's account of human existence challenges two very influential modes of thinking within contemporary political philosophy, which are exemplified, arguably at their best, in Martin Heidegger's early thought and Jürgen Habermas's project of communicative action. In contemporary political philosophy the Enlightenment heritage has been interpreted in such a way that tradition has come (...) to be conceived as inevitably opposed to the ideals of Enlightenment, and that the extension of one as a major constitutive element in social and political affairs implies the retraction of the other. However, this paper attempts to conceive the problem of tradition in a more articulated context, suggesting that Gadamer's work offers a useful corrective both to Habermas's project and to the relativistic implications of Heidegger's early thought. By drawing on Gadamer's work, with particular emphasis upon his notion of the fusion of horizons, as well as on the work of thinkers such as Charles Taylor and Alasdair Maclntyre, this paper attempts to articulate a hermeneutical, dialogical interpretation of tradition, which suggests that Gadamer's thought acknowledges that living traditions are the site of ongoing debates, internal revisions, and critical turns, and that the notion of a closed horizon that is supposed to enclose a culture is an abstraction. In so doing it goes beyond the caricaturised account of tradition that is bandied about both in modernist thought and in the conservative outlook. (shrink)

La hermenéutica de Gadamer se presenta como otro modo de pensar el ser en la experiencia de la comprensión del arte. De ahí, su expresión «el ser que puede ser comprendido es lenguaje ». El trabajo gira en torno a este enunciado como una actitud vital de la época contemporánea, más allá de la era de la fe y la razón. En ello, se funde la conciencia histórica efectual y circula el juego entre diálogo/traducción/interpretación como modelo de una estética (...) del lenguaje humano. Este acto de pensar con Gadamer encuentra la luminosidad de la verdad en la poesía como lenguaje primigenio del género humano. (shrink)

A través del presente artículo se realiza una lectura crítica de la conferencia de Gadamer Platón como retratista de 1988, con el propósito de exponer los rasgos esenciales de la hermenéutica del autor que en ese texto operan, a saber, los que determinan el quehacer hermenéutico como fenomenología del entendimiento, comprendiendo por este una estructura que involucra conocimiento teorético y práctico. Asimismo, lo anterior pretende extraer críticamente los mencionados elementos desde el dinamismo de la actividad hermenéutica presentes en la (...) conferencia, a la vez que señalar la influencia que Sócrates y Platón tuvieron sobre el pensamiento gadameriano. (shrink)

Title: Truth and MethodPublisher: ContinuumISBN: 082647697XAuthor: Hans-Georg GadamerTitle: Philosophical HermeneuticsPublisher: University of California PressISBN: 0520256409Author: Hans-Georg GadamerTitle: Hegel's Dialectic: Five Hermeneutical StudiesPublisher: Yale University PressISBN: 0300028423Author: Hans-Georg Gadamer.

This essay explores Gadamer’s ambivalent relationship with modernity. Gadamer is a prominent critic of the Enlightenment project. His criticisms are both theoretical and practical. Theoretically, representationalism is at the center of modern epistemology for Gadamer. Practically, Gadamer sees the demotion of prudence (phronesis) as fundamental to the “bad” Enlightenment. Gadamer’s attempt to revive an appreciation of rhetoric is a way to the join the theoretical and practical dimensions of speech and life. The central representative philosopher (...) of the Enlightenment for Gadamer is Kant. The antithetical thinker is Aristotle. Gadamer would have his Kant and his Aristotle too. The tension between these is at the heart of Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. (shrink)

This article aims to explore the contemporary master of Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics hermeneutics ideas. Since the modern theory of hermeneutics after Heidegger, hermeneutics and methodology into ontological hermeneutics controversy between the two factions, stand up to the United States is based on Heidegger's understanding of "this in the" on the basis of existence, back to Plato's dialectic dialogue through the creation of Hegel's dialectic philosophy of hermeneutics, the philosophy of the future generations and a significant impact on literary theory. (...) Up to now explore the beauty of the literature of philosophical hermeneutics, Gadamer on Plato most of the discussion, instead of hermeneutics as a separate, but ignored up to the United States only through the interpretation of Plato, the essence of philosophical hermeneutics in order to have their fully grasp. This article attempts to interpret Plato up to the United States, to explore its relationship with the philosophy of hermeneutics. Up back to the United States through the lively dialogues of Plato, one to one conversation, to reveal the limited nature of human knowledge. Not a rigorous interpretation of the rules of the social sciences, but a person with his participation in the process of creating meaning. The is a brief study of Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics. Since the publication of Martin Heidegger's Sein und Zeitin 1927, the hermeneutics are distinguished between traditional or methodological and radical or ontological hermeneutics. Based on early Heidergger's work, Gadamer interprets comprehension in ontological terms as one of the components of Dasein. It traces back to Plato's dialogue, and applies Hegel's dialectics. Further, Gadamer develops his philosophical hermeneutics, which has a tremendous impact on contemporary philosophy and literature. Most commentators on Gadamer's work, however, separate his work on Plato from his work on hermeneutics. This essay attempts to show that Gadamer's hermeneutics discloses itself in its most distinctive contours only in the light of his work on Plato. In going back to Plato, Gadamer tells us, that any true conversations do not proceed geometrico, Instead, we move back and forth, and it manifests the limitedness of all human knowing. Thus, hermeneutics is concerned not with the justification of interpretive understanding as knowledge or science, but rather it deals with different matters altogether. (shrink)

This study reviews central concepts of Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophy of understanding and then empirically explores how effectively these concepts describe the communicative features of one learning community. The study's central research question is: "What can be observed when learning community communication is cast in terms of the requisites of Gadamer's hermeneutics?" Because Gadamer's philosophy is guided by the concept of application, the most appropriate way to respond fully to this question is with a combination of philosophical analysis (...) and interpretation of empirical data. In addition, learning community literature is virtually silent about communication issues. Thus this study is designed to help learning community opinion makers understand what may characterize communication in learning communities. The description clarifies how the learning community is a communicative world which is formed by language and which provides a contextual perspective that informs student and teacher participation. Chapter 1 describes a postmodern framework for the philosophical and methodological perspectives of the inquiry, emphasizing Gadamer's philosophy of communicative understanding. Chapter 2 is a general introduction to the postmodern, educational phenomenon called learning communities. Chapter 3 describes the research questions and the empirical aspect of this study. Chapter 4 is a qualitative description of the communicative features of the learning community using Gadamer's philosophical terminology and contains abstractions and interpretations drawn from the case. Chapter 5 summarizes the major findings and limitations of the study, reviews implications for communicative practice and future research, and explains the contributions of the study to the understanding of communicative behavior in a learning community setting. (shrink)

Gadamer, in the first part of Truth and Method, offers an overview of the different times in which has made the tradition of humanist thought. One of the concepts that, to our knowledge, has special relevance within the philosophical approach Gadamerian hermeneutics --by being a concept that echoes the diltheyana-- is the notion of experience. In accordance with the arguments it uses Diltheyan vision Gadamer on the idea of ​​experience, our reading is held in the fact that this (...) notion gains a positive experience regarding all understanding. (shrink)