Now online a new article for the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology by Theodore George (Texas A&M University).
Theodore George – “On Gadamer’s Legacy: Postmodern Hermeneutics, New-Realist Hermeneutics, and the Tension of Understanding”
JBSP (Received 07 Oct 2024, Accepted 07 Dec 2024, Published online: 18 Dec 2024).
Abstract: The legacy of Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics includes not only several positions that continue to influence current debate in the field. He also leaves the legacy of an important philosophical tension based in the way he conceives of understanding. On the one hand, Gadamer maintains that genuine understanding remains true to matters themselves. On the other hand, though, he acknowledges that understanding is always mediated by language, and, thereby, meaning inherited from tradition. After a brief consideration of this tension in Gadamer’s thought, the author argues that this tension leads to a divide between two post-Gadamerian approaches in hermeneutics, one postmodern and the other new-realist. Postmodern hermeneutics is shown to give priority to the role played by language in understanding while new-realist hermeneutics is shown to stress the focus of understanding on the matters themselves. The author concludes with a brief consideration of the normative implications of this legacy.
Full article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071773.2024.2442113
Theodore George, Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
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