Hermeneutics And Praxis

Drawing freely and expertly from Continental and analytic traditions, Richard Bernstein examines a number of debates and controversies exemplified in the works of Gadamer, Habermas, Rorty, and Arendt. He argues that a "new conversation" is emerging about human rationality—a new understanding that emphasizes its practical character and has important ramifications both for thought and action.

First published in 1998, this volume deals with the legacy of Sartre and functions as a way of going beyond Sartre by means of Sartre, aiming to understand how we are to understand what we ourselves do and how we are to understand human being and human reality. Kristian Klockars’ main aim is intended to communicate three questions: how close Sartre’s later anthropology comes to hermeneutics, whether the idea of a hermeneutics of praxis could be seen as a possible solution to the internal tensions of Sartre’s conception, thinking with Sartre beyond Sartre, and whether a hermeneutics of praxis can constitute a living challenge to contemporary thought.

A fundamental issue for preachers of the Bible has always been achieving an approach that is both faithful to the textual intention as well as fitting for the listening audience. What is historical and distant (the text) is, in preaching, made contemporary and near (praxis). Particularly pertinent is how this transaction may be conducted with respect to the self-contained and well-defined quantum of the scriptural text that is regularly employed in liturgical contexts-the pericope. This book answers the question: In a sermon intending to proclaim application from a pericope, what is the hermeneutical basis for moving validly from text to praxis, i.e., with authority and relevance? The concept of theology as a bridge between text and praxis has not been specifically researched or rigorously substantiated. Kuruvilla seeks to do both, utilizing as entrées language philosophy, literary criticism, and a thorough understanding of "ordinary" language. Drawing from a variety of hermeneutical resources, he establishes "pericopal theology" as the intermediary between text and praxis. How this theology is discerned from the text and how application may be determined therefrom form the crux of this book. This novel approach lends validity to the movement from text to praxis and promises to be useful for any approach to the biblical text intended to culminate in application. Kuruvilla's approach provides a substantial technical basis for such an operation. Thus the preacher must be a "theologian-homiletician." It is the working out of this nomenclature, especially the "theologian" half of the appellation, that is the essence of this work, uniting as it does in one portfolio the responsibility of negotiating the demands of both hermeneutics and homiletics.

Hermeneutics and Modern Philosophy is a collection of interpretive and critical essays on philosophical hermeneutics, focusing on the seminal work of Heidegger and Gadamer. The anthology brings together classic pieces in the field that previously were widely scattered and includes articles that shed light on issues in contemporary hermeneutics.

From the Introduction: This inquiry is concerned with the themes of praxis and action in four philosophic movements: Marxism, existentialism, pragmatism, and analytic philosophy. It is rare that these four movements are considered in a single inquiry, for there are profound differences of emphasis, focus, terminology, and approach represented by these styles of thought. Many philosophers believe that similarities among these movements are superficial and that a close examination of them will reveal only hopelessly unbridgeable cleavages. While respecting the genuine fundamental differences of these movements, this inquiry is undertaken in the spirit of showing that there are important common themes and motifs in what first appears to be a chaotic babble of voices. I intend to show that the concern with man as an agent has been a primary focal point of each of these movements and further that each contributes something permanent and important to our understanding of the nature and context of human activity.

Theorizing Praxis investigates the theory/practice relation in philosophy, particularly within the fields of hermeneutics, ethics, and the philosophy of education. In so doing, it uncovers important areas of common ground between hermeneutical and pragmatist philosophy. Paul Fairfield defends a «practice-immanent» method of theorizing, which is indebted to both traditions and aims to explicitly articulate the spontaneously emergent constitutional dynamics of social practices rather than continue the project of transcendental theory construction.