Philosophical Hermeneutics Reinterpreted

In this important new study, Paul Fairfield examines a number of issues of central importance to philosophical hermeneutics. His aim is less to reexamine the basic hypotheses of hermeneutics (Gadamer's hermeneutics in particular) than to understand it in relational terms, by bringing it into closer association with existentialism, pragmatism, critical theory, and postmodernism. Fairfield contends that there are important affinities and areas for critical exchange between hermeneutics and these four schools of thought which have, until now, remained underappreciated. Philosophical Hermeneutics Reinterpreted examines several of these connections by interpreting hermeneutics in relation to specific themes in the writings of key figures within each of these traditions. In so doing, he both clarifies some outstanding issues in hermeneutics and advances the subject beyond what Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricoeur have given us.

In this important new study, Paul Fairfield examines a number of issues of central importance to philosophical hermeneutics. His aim is less to reexamine the basic hypotheses of hermeneutics (Gadamer's hermeneutics in particular) than to understand it in relational terms, by bringing it into closer association with existentialism, pragmatism, critical theory, and postmodernism. Fairfield contends that there are important affinities and areas for critical exchange between hermeneutics and these four schools of thought which have, until now, remained underappreciated. Philosophical Hermeneutics Reinterpreted examines several of these connections by interpreting hermeneutics in relation to specific themes in the writings of key figures within each of these traditions. In so doing, he both clarifies some outstanding issues in hermeneutics and advances the subject beyond what Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricoeur have given us.

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 new articles that shed light on much-debated issues in contemporary hermeneutics. Along with essays by Habermas and Gadamer, it features works by Paul Ricoeur, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Richard Bernstein, David Hoy, Reiner Wiehl, Marjorie Grene, Gianni Vattimo, Merold Westphal, John Caputo, Kathleen Wright, Charles Larmore, and Brice Wachterhauser. Hermeneutics and Modern Philosophy provides both an excellent introduction to the field and a useful commentary on its current state.

'This volume presents carefully selected essays from Gadamer's Kleine Schriften. The seven essays comprising Part 1 contain Gadamer's discussion of hermeneutical reflection. Part 2 consists of six essays dealing with phenomenology, existential philosophy, and philosophical hermeneutics.

Dealing extensively with Gadamer's later writings, Hermeneutics and the Voice of the Other shows neglected and widely misunderstood dimensions of Gadamer's hermeneutics: historicity, finitude, truth, the importance of the other, and the eminence of the poetic text.

The problem of the limits of reason is by no means a privileged subject of an academic discourse. By reducing reality to what can be conceived of within the paradigms of the scientific laboratory, manipulative despotism, which positivistic notion of objectivism has established, creates in a human being a unilateral conscience of the world and of oneself; a conscience that dominates today our understanding of existence in its manifold senses of Being and the world we live in. This way of thinking, based on a powerful and skillful technique aimed at controlling human life in all its dimensions, intends to impose this limiting positivistic horizon on human beings in the name of Liberte, Egalite, and Fraternite. Hermeneutic rationality resists the claims of modern science and promotes the culture of hospitality toward the world as it shows itself in its complexity. Maria Luisa Portocarrero, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal, Professor of Philosophy, specializing in the phenomenological hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur. Luis Antonio Umbelino, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal, Professor of Philosophy and Artistic Studies. Andrzej Wiercinski, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg, Germany, Professor of Philosophy of Religion, specializing in Practical Philosophy/Philosophical Hermeneutics.

Essays that focus on the analysis of the hermeneutical process, which is what occurs when texts are interpreted successfully. Also includes contributions from prominent researchers from all religious denominations on the subjects of philosophical hermeneutics, exegesis and theology.

Hermeneutics is a major theoretical and practical form of intellectual enquiry, central not only to philosophy but many other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. With phenomenology and existentialism, it is also one of the twentieth century’s most important philosophical movements and includes major thinkers such as Heidegger, Gadamer and Ricoeur. The Routledge Companion to Hermeneutics is an outstanding guide and reference source to the key philosophers, topics and themes in this exciting subject and is the first volume of its kind. Comprising over fifty chapters by a team of international contributors the Companion is divided into five parts: main figures in the hermeneutical tradition movement, including Heidegger, Gadamer and Ricoeur main topics in hermeneutics such as language, truth, relativism and history the engagement of hermeneutics with central disciplines such as literature, religion, race and gender, and art hermeneutics and world philosophies including Asian, Islamic and Judaic thought hermeneutic challenges and debates, such as critical theory, structuralism and phenomenology.