Truth and Method
Truth and Method (1960, Tübingen) is probably the best known work of the German philosopher Hans -Georg Gadamer, who formulates his idea of a universal hermeneutics.
Gadamer sees hermeneutics as neither theory nor as a method or methodology. Rather, it is the phenomenon of understanding and proper interpretation of what is understood. In the work to Gadamer sought to bring education to the terms truth, meaning, knowledge, and understanding.
Hermeneutics is not limited to scientific truth. Because even through art and story truth can be revealed. One experiences this truth through understanding in the form of a dialogue, and it does not matter whether one is dealing with a person, a text, a painting or some other object. Hermeneutics is this truth that transcends the scientific methodology legitimize.
The hermeneutic circle and the problem of prejudice
A hermeneutical rule is to understand the whole of the individual and the individual from the whole. The movement of understanding runs back from one to the other and back, with the understanding will be extended by two ( hermeneutic circle ).
To understand something means to confront a text conversation partner or work of art with a concrete expectation and then to revise constantly during the penetration in the sense of the opponent. This expectation is a Vormeinung or a prejudice to the topic. For an understanding of the other person, it is not enough to integrate its meaning into their own Vormeinung. Rather, one must have the will to review the own Vormeinung to validity and origin and set in relation to the meaning of the opponent. From this grows a own Vormeinung and the meaning of the opponent comprehensive truth in the sense of broadening horizons.
The prejudice is of particular importance. A distinction is a prejudice in the sense of prejudice and narrow-mindedness of a prejudice within the meaning of Vormeinung to expand the terminal is ready. By educating this term has a negative connotation in the sense of an unfounded judgment. The Modern Science of Enlightenment wants to understand everything rationally and without prejudice. This is not the tradition, but the reason ultimate source of authority. Your be subordinated to other authorities. But absolute reason is impossible, since even the freest spirit limited - because human - and is thus dominated by prejudice. A human - so limited - mind can never an all-encompassing - learn or comprehend truth - that is infinite.
The emphasis on reason and freedom in the Enlightenment led to negative occupancy of the concept of authority in connection with blind obedience. Straight out of reason should someone who is superior in insight and judgment, grant authority. Authority must be acquired by recognizing the superiority in judgment and insight and can not be awarded. Thus, an authority is a source of truth, while she was defamed by the Enlightenment as prejudice source. Each tradition (eg the reality of morals ) stems from the tradition. Thus, the tradition or the tradition of overarching authority for Gadamer. After all, the science of reason is subjected to development and change. Thus, it is part of history and thus subject to a tradition.
The hermeneutical problem of application
Understanding is an application to a situation. The application includes a discussion of the text through his questioning. Thus, the meaning of a text is detached from the author's intention to understand. Hermeneutics is a reflection of what is happening with himself in a dialog: see themselves in understanding a thing.
The hermeneutical experience
The truth must be experienced (eg empiricism ). The truth is effected by truth effort. There is no comprehensive empirical truth, because the experience in the empiricist sense is not all-inclusive and thus finally. It is the aim of science to objectify experience so that it adheres to any historical moment more. Thus, the experimental experience for everyone repeatable and the process is controllable. Experience is valid, as long as it has not been refuted by new experience.
Thus, the individual is always in the moment of experience in a contradiction to the previous one, adopted as safe opinion and must bring the resulting findings consistent with what can be subjectively perceived as painful.
The logic of question and answer
The question corresponding to the open structure of the hermeneutic consciousness. She has a sense of direction, which puts the interviewee in a certain light, but still has to open. The answer is only in the sense of the question meaning. The question requires the knowledge of ignorance. Definite lack of knowledge leads to a specific question. The essential of an invasion is not the dip of the solution of a problem, but the incidence of a certain open question.
Language as a medium of hermeneutical experience
Dialectic is the art of making a call, ie it is the art of concept formation as the formation of the common. A conversation has its own spirit, its own truth, for the training and starting a conversation is not controlled by the speaker. Understanding is created by wise and not by the mere Understand the opinion of another. Communicate in turn is only through language. Understanding requires an ability to put oneself in the other person to collect the material law of his mind.
Language serves as a basic law enforcement, according to Gadamer way of our " in-the -world ", which encompasses our entire world constitution. " We grow up, we learn about the world, we get to know the people and at the end of ourselves, when we learn to speak. " Gadamer is the conviction that we are always biased in all our thinking and knowing, by the linguistic interpretation of the world was in we was the language alive enforcement grow and the more, the less you become aware of. Through language, our world rely on articulation and speech caused our thinking.
Source: Gadamer, Hans -Georg (1967 ): Kleine Schriften I, philosophy, hermeneutics, JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck ) Verlag, Tübingen
The universal aspect of hermeneutics
Language is the midpoint between the self and the world. Language is speculative - not representation, but to -speech coming. To -speech Come produces no second sense. Being and representation are not distinguishable. Linguistic events, like the man at last. The finiteness of the human mind is the prerequisite for the hermeneutic experience. An infinite spirit (God) sees only the beauty of the whole, may make any sense out of themselves think ( "God does not philosophize "). The hermeneutical experience is part of the immediacy of the experience of beauty and the evidence of truth.
Task of hermeneutics after Gadamer
In his major work, Gadamer sees himself " the task of his hermeneutics Justify the assertion that understanding presupposes a recognition, by which it will for other understanding." Thus the principle of the hermeneutic circle could be justified, and would the corresponding conclusion that we, again and again ( at higher levels ) understand what was understood in a tradition already been on. And although these new conclusions can generally be made only because they can be integrated into an infinite number of meaning covers, Gadamer insists on the finiteness of our thinking and our understanding. Consistent with Heidegger, he takes the view that to the fact that we even run counter to the death approaching, it is possible to understand our life as a complete whole.