The Hermeneutic Nature of Analytic Philosophy: A Study of Ernst Tugendhat

Santiago Zabala

Published by Columbia University Press 2008

The Hermeneutic Nature of Analytic Philosophy

A Study of Ernst Tugendhat

Santiago Zabala
Translated by: Michael Haskell
Preface by: Gianni Vattimo

https://doi.org/10.7312/zaba14388

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About this book

Gianni Vattimo and Santiago Zabala recast Karl Marx's theories at a time when capitalism's metaphysical moorings are buckling. Leaving aside the ideal of development and the general call for revolution, hermeneutic communism relies on interpretation rather than truth and proves more flexible in different contexts. It motivates a resistance to capitalism's inequalities yet intervenes against violence and authoritarianism by emphasizing the interpretative nature of truth. Paralleling Vattimo and Zabala's work on the weakening of religion, Hermeneutic Communism realizes the effective potential of Marxist thought.

Contemporary philosopher—analytic as well as continentaltend to feel uneasy about Ernst Tugendhat, who, though he positions himself in the analytic field, poses questions in the Heideggerian style. Tugendhat was one of Martin Heidegger's last pupils and his least obedient, pursuing a new and controversial critical technique. Tugendhat took Heidegger's destruction of Being as presence and developed it in analytic philosophy, more specifically in semantics. Only formal semantics, according to Tugendhat, could answer the questions left open by Heidegger.

Yet in doing this, Tugendhat discovered the latent "hermeneutic nature of analytic philosophy"its post-metaphysical dimension—in which "there are no facts, but only true propositions." What Tugendhat seeks to answer is this: What is the meaning of thought following the linguistic turn? Because of the rift between analytic and continental philosophers, very few studies have been written on Tugendhat, and he has been omitted altogether from several histories of philosophy. Now that these two schools have begun to reconcile, Tugendhat has become an example of a philosopher who, in the words of Richard Rorty, "built bridges between continents and between centuries."

Tugendhat is known more for his philosophical turn than for his phenomenological studies or for his position within analytic philosophy, and this creates some confusion regarding his philosophical propensities. Is Tugendhat analytic or continental? Is he a follower of Wittgenstein or Heidegger? Does he belong in the culture of analysis or in that of tradition? Santiago Zabala presents Tugendhat as an example of merged horizons, promoting a philosophical historiography that is concerned more with dialogue and less with classification. In doing so, he places us squarely within a dialogic culture of the future and proves that any such labels impoverish philosophical research.

Author / Editor information

Gianni Vattimo is emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Turin and a member of the European Parliament. His books with Columbia University Press include A Farewell to Truth; The Responsibility of the Philosopher; Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith: A Dialogue (with René Girard); Not Being God: A Collaborative Autobiography (with Piergiorgio Paterlini); Art's Claim to Truth; After the Death of God (with John D. Caputo); Dialogue with Nietzsche; The Future of Religion (with Richard Rorty); Nihilism and Emancipation: Ethics, Politics, and Law; and After Christianity.

Santiago Zabala is ICREA Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of Barcelona. His books include The Remains of Being: Hermeneutic Ontology After Metaphysics and The Hermeneutic Nature of Analytic Philosophy: A Study of Ernst Tugendhat.

Reviews

Eduardo Mendieta:
Manifestos are the tools through which we fashion new moral identities. They conjure and interpellate a more expansive "we." Hermeneutic Communism teaches us that we not only have to interpret the inheritance of communism in ever more generative and creativeways, but also fashion a more ecumenical and humane "we," through the new stories we tell about how we got where we are today and where we should be going in the near future.

Bruce Krajewski:
Zabala's wonderful epiloguealone worth the price of the book.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Translators’ Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Foreword Gianni Vattimo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
One. Overcoming Husserl The Metaphysics Of Phenomenology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Two. Correcting Heidegger Verifying Heidegger’s Philosophy From Within Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Three. Semantizing Ontology After The Metaphysics Of Logical Positivism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Four. Philosophizing Analytically The Semantic Foundation Of Philosophy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
Epilogue. The Linguistic Turn As The End Of Metaphysics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 264

eBook

Published: May 14, 2008
ISBN: 9780231512978