[Very Short Introductions 448] • Hermeneutics, A Very Short Introduction by Zimmermann, Jens -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Preface List of illustrations 1 What is hermeneutics?

The term hermeneutics Hermeneutics and the quest for self-understanding Hermeneutics as philosophical discipline What is understanding? Interpreting animals The three central claims of hermeneutics Consciousness: the self is no island Truth is an event The importance of language Is ‘hermeneutics’ another word for relativism?

2 Hermeneutics: a brief history

Knowledge in the ancient world From wisdom to epistemology Separating the mind from the world The beginning of general hermeneutics Hermeneutics of the spirit Schleiermacher and the hermeneutic circle Interpretation as reconstruction Schleiermacher—pros and cons Dilthey’s hermeneutics of life experience Explanation and understanding Interpreting à la Dilthey We don’t do history; we are history Husserl’s phenomenology Martin Heidegger: to be human is to interpret Heidegger’s ‘world’ Heidegger’s hammer The existential hermeneutic circle Hermeneutics after Heidegger

3 Philosophical hermeneutics

Historically effected consciousness The conversation that we are Tradition and authority are good things! Seeing or hearing? The heart of hermeneutic experience: mediation Fusion of horizons The soul of hermeneutic experience: application Beyond objectivism and relativism The power of art

4 Hermeneutics and the humanities

Texting Getting it right: the validity of interpretations Hirsch’s hermeneutic objectivism Ricoeur’s response to Hirsch Interpreting objectively How texts expand our world Literature and the importance of metaphor Defending the humanities Hermeneutics and the digital humanities

5 Hermeneutics and theology

Hermeneutics and divine inspiration Inspiration and Judaism Inspiration and Islam Inspiration and Christianity The importance of tradition Tradition and the Hebrew Bible Tradition and Christian interpretation Spiritual interpretation The rule of faith Tradition in Islam A game changer: the Protestant Reformation The rise of modern historical criticism Beyond historical criticism_ Barth, Bultmann, and Bonhoeffer Some recent hermeneutic trends

6 Hermeneutics and law

Legal positivism_ the law is the law Hart and the hermeneutics of recognition Rules of recognition New laws or the limits of legal positivism Critics of legal positivism Legal realism Natural law Hermeneutic conceptions of law: to judge is to interpret Textualism Law as integrity

7 Hermeneutics and science

Facts or interpretation? Scientific objectivism Scientific positivism Understanding as a basic mode of intelligent life Personal knowledge Science as art The hermeneutics of scientific discovery Science as a distinct mode of knowledge The future of hermeneutics

Appendix

References Further reading Index Social Media