View source for Hermeneutics

{{Short description|Theory and methodology of text interpretation}}
{{redirect|Philosophical hermeneutics|other uses|Hermeneutics (disambiguation)|the history of hermeneutics|History of hermeneutics}}
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'''Hermeneutics''' ({{IPAc-en|h|ɜːr|m|ə|ˈ|nj|uː|t|ɪ|k|s}})<ref>[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/hermeneutics "hermeneutics"]. ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]''.</ref> is the theory and [[methodology]] of interpretation,<ref name="ahd">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=hermeneutics|title=The American Heritage Dictionary entry: hermeneutics|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company|website=www.ahdictionary.com}}</ref><ref name="mw">{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hermeneutics|title=Definition of HERMENEUTICS|website=[[Merriam-Webster|www.merriam-webster.com]]|date=December 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hermans |first=Theo |title=Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies |date=2020 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-315-67862-7 |editor-last=Baker |editor-first=Mona |edition=3rd |location=London New York |chapter=Hermeneutics |pages=227–232 |doi=10.4324/9781315678627-49 |quote=Hermeneutics is the discipline concerned with understanding and explicating texts that are not not immediately intelligible. |editor-last2=Saldanha |editor-first2=Gabriela |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315678627-49/hermeneutics-theo-hermans?context=ubx&refId=1ecd7a14-321e-4137-8413-8a3ee0df4d77}}</ref> especially the interpretation of [[Biblical hermeneutics|biblical texts]], [[wisdom literature]], and [[Philosophy|philosophical texts]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgediction00audi |url-access=limited |last= Audi|first=Robert |authorlink=Robert Audi|edition= 2nd |year=1999 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521637220 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgediction00audi/page/n409 377]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion|last=Reese |first=William L. |year=1980 |publisher=Harvester Press |location=Sussex |isbn=978-0855271473 |page= 221}}</ref> As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4xmCgAAQBAJ&q=hermeneutics|title=Hermeneutics: A Very Short Introduction|last=Zimmermann|first=Jens|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199685356|pages=2|language=en}}</ref>

[[#Modern hermeneutics|Modern hermeneutics]] includes both verbal and non-verbal communication,<ref name="Routledge">''The Routledge Companion to Philosophy in Organization Studies'', Routledge, 2015, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mpvhCgAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA113&hl=cs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 113].</ref><ref name="JMN">Joann McNamara, ''From Dance to Text and Back to Dance: A Hermeneutics of Dance Interpretive Discourse'', PhD thesis, Texas Woman's University, 1994.</ref> as well as [[semiotics]], [[presupposition]]s, and pre-understandings. Hermeneutics has been broadly applied in the [[humanities]], especially in law, history and theology.

Hermeneutics was initially applied to the interpretation, or [[exegesis]], of [[Religious texts|scripture]], and has been later broadened to questions of general interpretation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics|last=Grondin|first=Jean|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1994|isbn=978-0-300-05969-4}} p. 2</ref> The terms ''hermeneutics'' and ''exegesis'' are sometimes used interchangeably. Hermeneutics is a wider discipline which includes written, verbal, and nonverbal<ref name="Routledge" /><ref name="JMN" /> communication. Exegesis focuses primarily upon the word and grammar of [[text (literary theory)|texts]].

Hermeneutic, as a [[count noun]] in the singular, refers to some particular method of interpretation (see, in contrast, [[double hermeneutic]]).

== Etymology ==
''Hermeneutics'' is derived from the Greek word {{lang|grc|ἑρμηνεύω}} ({{Transliteration|grc|hermēneuō}}, "translate, interpret"),<ref>[[Ernest Klein|Klein, E. D.]], ''A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language'' ([[Amsterdam]]: [[Elsevier]], 1971), [https://archive.org/details/AComprehensiveEtymologicalDictionaryOfTheEnglishLanguageByErnestKlein/page/n374/mode/1up p. 724].</ref> from {{lang|grc|ἑρμηνεύς}} ({{Transliteration|grc|hermeneus}}, "translator, interpreter"). While the etymology is uncertain, both [[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]] (2009)<ref>[[Robert S. P. Beekes|R. S. P. Beekes]], ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 462.</ref> and Zsolt Simon (2019)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Simon |first=Zsolt |date=2019 |title=Zu den karisch-griechischen Lehnbeziehungen |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26727207 |journal=Glotta |volume=95 |pages=295–308 |doi=10.13109/glot.2019.95.1.295 |jstor=26727207 |issn=0017-1298}}</ref> suggest an [[Anatolian languages|Anatolian]] ([[Carian language|Carian]]) origin. 

The technical term {{lang|grc|ἑρμηνεία}} ({{Transliteration|grc|hermeneia}}, "interpretation, explanation") was introduced into philosophy mainly through the title of [[Aristotle]]'s work {{lang|grc|Περὶ Ἑρμηνείας}} ({{Transliteration|grc|Peri Hermeneias}}), commonly referred to by its Latin title ''[[De Interpretatione]]'' and translated in English as ''On Interpretation''. It is one of the earliest ({{Circa|360 BCE}}) extant philosophical works in the [[Western philosophy|Western tradition]] to deal with the relationship between language and logic in a comprehensive, explicit and formal way.

The early usage of "hermeneutics" places it within the boundaries of the [[sacred]].<ref name="Grondin">Grondin, Jean (1994). Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics. Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-05969-8}}.</ref>{{rp|21}} A [[Divinity|divine]] message must be received with implicit uncertainty regarding its truth. This ambiguity is an irrationality; it is a sort of madness that is inflicted upon the receiver of the message. Only one who possesses a rational method of interpretation (i.e., a hermeneutic) could determine the truth or falsity of the message.<ref name="Grondin" />{{rp|21–22}}

=== Folk etymology ===
[[File:Hermes Musei Capitolini MC60.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Hermes]], messenger of the gods]]

[[Folk etymology]] places its origin with [[Hermes]], the mythological Greek [[deity]] who was the 'messenger of the gods'.<ref name="Couzen-Hoy">Hoy, David Couzens (1981). ''The Critical Circle''. [[University of California Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0520046399}}</ref> Aside from being a mediator among the gods and between the gods and men, he led souls to the [[Hades|underworld]] upon death.

Moreover, Hermes was considered the inventor of language and speech, an interpreter, a liar, a thief, and a trickster.<ref name="Couzen-Hoy" /> These multiple roles made Hermes an ideal representative figure for hermeneutics. As Socrates noted, words have the power to reveal or conceal and can deliver messages in an ambiguous way.<ref name="Couzen-Hoy" /> The Greek view of language as consisting of [[Sign (semiotics)|signs]] that could lead to truth or to falsehood was the essence of Hermes, who was said to relish the uneasiness of those who received the messages he delivered.<ref>White, R. E., & K. Cooper, ''Qualitative Research in the Post-Modern Era: Critical Approaches and Selected Methodologies'' (London: [[Springer Nature]], 2022), [https://books.google.com/books?id=r9CPEAAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA63&pg=PA63&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 63].</ref>{{rp|63}}

== In religious traditions ==
=== Mesopotamian hermeneutics ===
{{Main|Exegesis#Mesopotamian commentaries}}

=== Islamic hermeneutics ===
{{Main| Quranic hermeneutics}}

=== Talmudic hermeneutics ===
{{Main|Talmudic hermeneutics}}
{{See also|Judaism#Rabbinic hermeneutics|l1=Judaism § Rabbinic hermeneutics}}
{{Eras of the Halakha}}

Summaries of the principles by which Torah can be interpreted date back to, at least, [[Hillel the Elder]], although the thirteen principles set forth in the [[Baraita of Rabbi Ishmael]] are perhaps the best known. These principles ranged from standard rules of logic (e.g., [[A fortiori argument|''a fortiori'' argument]] [known in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] as {{Lang|he|קל וחומר}}&nbsp;–&nbsp;{{Transliteration|he|kal v'chomer}}]) to more expansive ones, such as the rule that a passage could be interpreted by reference to another passage in which the same word appears ([[Talmudical Hermeneutics#Gezerah Shavah|Gezerah Shavah]]). The [[rabbi]]s did not ascribe equal persuasive power to the various principles.<ref>See, e.g., Rambam Hilkhot Talmud Torah 4:8</ref>

Traditional Jewish hermeneutics differed from the Greek method in that the rabbis considered the [[Tanakh]] (the Jewish Biblical canon) to be without error. Any apparent inconsistencies had to be understood by means of careful examination of a given text within the context of other texts. There were different levels of interpretation: some were used to arrive at the plain meaning of the text, some expounded the law given in the text, and others found [[Western esotericism|secret]] or [[Mysticism|mystical]] levels of understanding.

=== Vedic hermeneutics ===
{{Main|Mimamsa}}

Vedic hermeneutics involves the exegesis of the [[Vedas]], the earliest holy texts of [[Hinduism]]. The [[Mīmāṃsā|Mimamsa]] was the leading hermeneutic school and their primary purpose was understanding what [[Dharma]] (righteous living) involved by a detailed hermeneutic study of the Vedas. They also derived the rules for the various rituals that had to be performed precisely.

The foundational text is the [[Mimamsa Sutras|Mimamsa Sutra]] of [[Jaimini]] (c. 3rd to 1st century BCE) with a major commentary by [[Śabara]] (c. the 5th or 6th century CE). The Mimamsa sutra summed up the basic rules for Vedic interpretation.

=== Buddhist hermeneutics ===
{{Main|Buddhist hermeneutics}}

Buddhist hermeneutics deals with the interpretation of the vast [[Buddhist texts|Buddhist literature]], particularly those texts which are said to be spoken by the [[Buddha]] ([[Buddhavacana]]) and other enlightened beings. Buddhist hermeneutics is deeply tied to Buddhist spiritual practice and its ultimate aim is to extract [[Upaya|skillful means]] of reaching spiritual enlightenment or [[nirvana]]. A central question in Buddhist hermeneutics is which Buddhist teachings are explicit, representing ultimate truth, and which teachings are merely conventional or relative.

=== Biblical hermeneutics ===
{{Main|Biblical hermeneutics}}
Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation of the Bible. While Jewish and Christian biblical hermeneutics have some overlap, they have very different interpretive traditions.

The early [[Church Fathers|patristic]] traditions of biblical [[exegesis]] had few unifying characteristics in the beginning but tended toward unification in later schools of biblical hermeneutics.

[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] offers hermeneutics and [[homiletics]] in his ''[[De doctrina christiana]]''. He stresses the importance of humility in the study of Scripture. He also regards the duplex commandment of love in Matthew 22 as the heart of Christian faith. In Augustine's hermeneutics, signs have an important role. God can communicate with the believer through the signs of the Scriptures. Thus, humility, love, and the knowledge of signs are an essential hermeneutical presupposition for a sound interpretation of the Scriptures. Although Augustine endorses some teaching of the [[Platonism]] of his time, he recasts it according to a theocentric doctrine of the Bible. Similarly, in a practical discipline, he modifies the classical theory of oratory in a Christian way. He underscores the meaning of diligent study of the Bible and prayer as more than mere human knowledge and oratory skills. As a concluding remark, Augustine encourages the interpreter and preacher of the Bible to seek a good manner of life and, most of all, to love God and neighbor.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Woo | first=B. Hoon | title=Augustine's Hermeneutics and Homiletics in De doctrina christianae | journal= Journal of Christian Philosophy | year=2013 | volume=17 | url=https://www.academia.edu/5228314 |pages=97–117}}</ref>

There is traditionally a fourfold sense of biblical hermeneutics: literal, moral, allegorical (spiritual), and anagogical.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/hermeneutics-principles-of-biblical-interpretation|title=hermeneutics &#124; Definition & Facts|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=7 July 2023 }}</ref>

==== Literal ====
{{See also|Biblical literalism}}
Encyclopædia Britannica states that literal analysis means "a biblical text is to be deciphered according to the 'plain meaning' expressed by its linguistic construction and historical context." The intention of the authors is believed to correspond to the literal meaning. Literal hermeneutics is often associated with the verbal inspiration of the Bible.<ref name="Hermeneutics 2014">'Hermeneutics' 2014, Encyclopædia Britannica, Research Starters, EBSCOhost, viewed 17 March 2015</ref>

==== Moral ====
Moral interpretation searches for moral lessons which can be understood from writings within the Bible. Allegories are often placed in this category.<ref name="Hermeneutics 2014"/>

==== Allegorical ====
Allegorical interpretation states that biblical narratives have a second level of reference that is more than the people, events and things that are explicitly mentioned. One type of allegorical interpretation is known as [[typology (theology)|typological]], where the key figures, events, and establishments of the Old Testament are viewed as "types" (patterns). In the New Testament this can also include foreshadowing of people, objects, and events. According to this theory, readings like Noah's Ark could be understood by using the Ark as a "type" of the Christian church that God designed from the start.<ref name="Hermeneutics 2014"/>

==== Anagogical ====
This type of interpretation is more often known as mystical interpretation. It claims to explain the events of the Bible and how they relate to or predict what the future holds. This is evident in the [[Kabbalah|Jewish Kabbalah]], which attempts to reveal the mystical significance of the numerical values of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] words and letters.

In Judaism, [[Anagoge|anagogical interpretation]] is also evident in the medieval [[Zohar]]. In Christianity, it can be seen in [[Mariology]].<ref name="Hermeneutics 2014"/>

== Philosophical hermeneutics ==
=== Ancient and medieval hermeneutics ===
{{Main|History of hermeneutics}}

=== Modern hermeneutics<!-- 'Epistemological hermeneutics', 'Straussian hermeneutics', 'Radical hermeneutics', 'Romantic hermeneutics', 'Methodological hermeneutics', 'Ontological hermeneutics', 'Hermeneutic idealism', 'Hermeneutic realism', 'Analytic hermeneutics' and 'Engaged hermeneutics' redirect here--> ===
The discipline of hermeneutics emerged with the new [[Humanism|humanist]] education of the 15th&nbsp;century as a historical and critical [[methodology]] for analyzing texts. In a triumph of early modern hermeneutics, the Italian humanist [[Lorenzo Valla]] proved in 1440 that the ''[[Donation of Constantine]]'' was a forgery. This was done through intrinsic evidence of the text itself. Thus, hermeneutics expanded from its medieval role of explaining the true meaning of the Bible.

However, biblical hermeneutics did not die off. For example, the [[Protestant Reformation]] brought about a renewed interest in the interpretation of the Bible, which took a step away from the interpretive tradition developed during the Middle Ages back to the texts themselves. [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] emphasized ''scriptura sui ipsius interpres'' (scripture interprets itself). Calvin used ''[[brevitas et facilitas]]'' as an aspect of [[theological hermeneutics]].<ref>Myung Jun Ahn, [https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/26944?show=full "Brevitas et facilitas : a study of a vital aspect in the theological hermeneutics of John Calvin"].</ref>

The rationalist [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] led hermeneutists, especially [[Protestant]] exegetists, to view Scriptural texts as secular classical texts. They interpreted Scripture as responses to historical or social forces so that, for example, apparent contradictions and difficult passages in the New Testament might be clarified by comparing their possible meanings with contemporary Christian practices.

[[Friedrich Schleiermacher]] (1768–1834) explored the nature of understanding in relation not just to the problem of deciphering sacred texts but to all human texts and modes of communication.

The interpretation of a text must proceed by framing its content in terms of the overall organization of the work. Schleiermacher distinguished between grammatical interpretation and psychological interpretation. The former studies how a work is composed from general ideas; the latter studies the peculiar combinations that characterize the work as a whole. He said that every problem of interpretation is a problem of understanding and even defined hermeneutics as the art of avoiding misunderstanding. Misunderstanding was to be avoided by means of knowledge of grammatical and psychological laws.

During Schleiermacher's time, a fundamental shift occurred from understanding not merely the exact words and their objective meaning, to an understanding of the writer's distinctive character and point of view.<ref name="ramberg">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hermeneutics/|title=Hermeneutics|author1=Bjorn Ramberg|author2=Kristin Gjesdal|encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|access-date=2017-09-12}}</ref>

Nineteenth- and twentieth-century hermeneutics emerged as a theory of understanding (''[[Verstehen]]'') through the work of [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]] ('''Romantic hermeneutics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--><ref>[[Kurt Mueller-Vollmer]] (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=CXY_h9rkUSUC&dq= ''The Hermeneutics Reader''], Continuum, 1988, p. 72.</ref> and '''methodological hermeneutics'''),<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--><ref>Edward Joseph Echeverria, ''Criticism and Commitment: Major Themes in Contemporary "Post-Critical" Philosophy'', Rodopi, 1981, p. 221.</ref> [[August Böckh]] (methodological hermeneutics),<ref>Thomas M. Seebohm, ''Hermeneutics: Method and Methodology'', Springer, 2007, p. 55.</ref> [[Wilhelm Dilthey]] ('''epistemological hermeneutics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->),<ref>Jack Martin, Jeff Sugarman, Kathleen L. Slaney (eds.), ''The Wiley Handbook of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology: Methods, Approaches, and New Directions for Social Sciences'', Wiley Blackwell, p. 56.</ref> [[Martin Heidegger]] ('''ontological hermeneutics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->,<ref>Martin Heidegger, ''Ontology: The Hermeneutics of Facticity'', Indiana University Press, 2008, p. 92.</ref> [[hermeneutic phenomenology]],<ref>[[Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka]], ''Phenomenology World-Wide: Foundations – Expanding Dynamics – Life-Engagements A Guide for Research and Study'', Springer, 2014, p. 246.</ref><ref>Cf. [[interpretative phenomenological analysis]] in psychological [[qualitative research]].</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Laverty|first=Susann M.|date=September 2003|title=Hermeneutic Phenomenology and Phenomenology: A Comparison of Historical and Methodological Considerations|journal=International Journal of Qualitative Methods|volume=2|issue=3|pages=21–35|doi=10.1177/160940690300200303|issn=1609-4069|doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[transcendental hermeneutic phenomenology]]),<ref name=stanford3.1>{{cite encyclopedia | first=Michael | last=Wheeler | url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/heidegger/#TurCon |title=Martin Heidegger – 3.1 The Turn and the ''Contributions to Philosophy''|encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]|date=12 October 2011|access-date=2016-12-04}}</ref> [[Hans-Georg Gadamer]] (ontological hermeneutics),<ref>Jeff Malpas, Hans-Helmuth Gande (eds.), ''The Routledge Companion to Hermeneutics'', Routledge, 2014, p. 259.</ref> [[Leo Strauss]] ('''Straussian hermeneutics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->),<ref>Winfried Schröder (ed.), ''Reading between the lines – Leo Strauss and the history of early modern philosophy'', Walter de Gruyter, 2015, p. 39, "According to Robert Hunt, '[t]he Straussian hermeneutic ... sees the course of intellectual history as an ongoing conversation about important philosophical questions'."</ref> [[Paul Ricœur]] (hermeneutic phenomenology),<ref>[[Don Ihde]], ''Hermeneutic Phenomenology: The Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur'', Northwestern University Press, 1971, p. 198.</ref> [[Walter Benjamin]] ([[Marxist hermeneutics]]),<ref name=Erasmus>''Erasmus: Speculum Scientarium'', '''25''', p. 162: "the different versions of Marxist hermeneutics by the examples of [[Walter Benjamin]]'s ''[[The Origin of German Tragic Drama|Origins of the German Tragedy]]'' {{sic}}, ... and also by Ernst Bloch's ''[[The Principle of Hope|Hope the Principle]]'' {{sic}}."</ref> [[Ernst Bloch]] (Marxist hermeneutics),<ref name=AL>Richard E. Amacher, Victor Lange, ''New Perspectives in German Literary Criticism: A Collection of Essays'', Princeton University Press, 2015, p. 11.</ref><ref name=Erasmus/> [[Jacques Derrida]] ('''radical hermeneutics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->, namely [[deconstruction]]),<ref>[[John D. Caputo]], ''Radical Hermeneutics: Repetition, Deconstruction, and the Hermeneutic Project'', Indiana University Press, 1988, p. 5: "Derrida is the turning point for radical hermeneutics, the point where hermeneutics is pushed to the brink. Radical hermeneutics situates itself in the space which is opened up by the exchange between Heidegger and Derrida..."</ref><ref name = IIH>International Institute for Hermeneutics – [https://www.iihermeneutics.org/about-hermeneutics About Hermeneutics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706000526/http://www.iihermeneutics.org/about-hermeneutics |date=2016-07-06 }}. Retrieved: 2015-11-08.</ref> [[Richard Kearney]] ([[diacritical hermeneutics]]), [[Fredric Jameson]] (Marxist hermeneutics),<ref name=Mohanty>Mohanty, Satya P. "Jameson's Marxist Hermeneutics and the need for an Adequate Epistemology." In ''Literary Theory and the Claims of History: Postmodernism, Objectivity, Multicultural Politics''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997. pp. 93–115.</ref> and [[John Thompson (sociologist)|John Thompson]] ([[critical hermeneutics]]).

Regarding the relation of hermeneutics with problems of [[analytic philosophy]], there has been, particularly among analytic Heideggerians and those working on Heidegger's [[philosophy of science]], an attempt to try and situate Heidegger's hermeneutic project in debates concerning [[Philosophical realism|realism]] and [[anti-realism]]: arguments have been presented both for Heidegger's '''hermeneutic idealism'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> (the thesis that meaning determines [[reference]] or, equivalently, that our understanding of the being of entities is what determines entities as entities)<ref>Steven Galt Crowell, Jeff Malpas (eds.), ''Transcendental Heidegger'', Stanford University Press, 2007, pp. 116–117.</ref> and for Heidegger's '''hermeneutic realism'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--><ref>[[Hubert L. Dreyfus]], Mark A. Wrathall (eds.), ''Heidegger Reexamined: Truth, realism, and the history of being'', Routledge, 2002, pp. 245, 274, 280; Hubert L. Dreyfus, "Heidegger's Hermeneutic Realism," in: David R. Hiley, James Bohman, Richard Shusterman (eds.), ''The Interpretive Turn: Philosophy, Science, Culture'', Cornell University Press, 1991.</ref> (the thesis that (a) there is a nature in itself and science can give us an explanation of how that nature works, and (b) that (a) is compatible with the ontological implications of our everyday practices).<ref>Hubert L. Dreyfus, Mark A. Wrathall (eds.), ''Heidegger Reexamined: Truth, realism, and the history of being'', Routledge, 2002, p. 245.</ref>

Philosophers that worked to combine analytic philosophy with hermeneutics include [[Georg Henrik von Wright]] and [[Peter Winch]]. Roy J. Howard termed this approach '''analytic hermeneutics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->.<ref>Roy J. Howard, ''Three Faces of Hermeneutics: An Introduction to Current Theories of Understanding'', University of California Press, 1982, ch. 1.</ref>

Other contemporary philosophers influenced by the hermeneutic tradition include [[Charles Taylor (philosopher)|Charles Taylor]]<ref name="ramberg" /> ('''engaged hermeneutics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Aarde|first=Andries G. Van|date=2009-08-07|title=Postsecular spirituality, engaged hermeneutics, and Charles Taylor's notion of hypergoods|url=https://hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/166|journal=HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies|language=en|volume=65|issue=1|page=210|issn=2072-8050}}</ref> and [[Dagfinn Føllesdal]].<ref name="ramberg" />

==== Dilthey (1833–1911) ====
[[Wilhelm Dilthey]] broadened hermeneutics even more by relating interpretation to historical objectification. Understanding moves from the outer manifestations of human action and productivity to the exploration of their inner meaning. In his last important essay, "The Understanding of Other Persons and Their Manifestations of Life" (1910), Dilthey made clear that this move from outer to inner, from expression to what is expressed, is not based on [[empathy]], understood as a direct identification with the [[Other (philosophy)|Other]]. Interpretation, on a hermeneutical conception of empathy<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gallagher |first1=Shaun |date=2019 |chapter=Dilthey and Empathy |editor-last=Nelson |editor-first=E. S. |title=Interpreting Dilthey |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=145–158}}</ref> involves an indirect or mediated understanding that can only be attained by placing human expressions in their historical context. Thus, understanding is not a process of reconstructing the state of mind of the author, but one of articulating what is expressed in his work.

Dilthey divided sciences of the mind ([[human sciences]]) into three structural levels: experience, expression, and comprehension.

* Experience means to feel a situation or thing personally. Dilthey suggested that we can always grasp the meaning of unknown thought when we try to experience it. His understanding of experience is very similar to that of [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenologist]] [[Edmund Husserl]].
* Expression converts experience into meaning because the discourse has an appeal to someone outside of oneself. Every saying is an expression. Dilthey suggested that one can always return to an expression, especially to its written form, and this practice has the same objective value as an experiment in science. The possibility of returning makes scientific analysis possible, and therefore the humanities may be labeled as science. Moreover, he assumed that an expression may be "saying" more than the speaker intends because the expression brings forward meanings which the individual consciousness may not fully understand.
* The last structural level of the science of the mind, according to Dilthey, is comprehension, which is a level that contains both comprehension and incomprehension. Incomprehension means, more or less, ''wrong understanding''. He assumed that comprehension produces coexistence: "he who understands, understands others; he who does not understand stays alone."

==== Heidegger (1889–1976) ====
In the 20th&nbsp;century, [[Martin Heidegger]]'s philosophical hermeneutics shifted the focus from interpretation to [[Existentialism|existential]] understanding as rooted in fundamental ontology, which was treated more as a direct—and thus more authentic—way of being-in-the-world (''In-der-Welt-sein'') than merely as "a way of knowing."<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Harper and Row | last = Heidegger | first = Martin| title = Being and Time | url = https://archive.org/details/beingtime0000heid | url-access = registration | orig-year = 1927| year = 1962 | page=H125 |lccn=62-7289 }} Reprint: {{ISBN|9780060638504}}.  </ref> For example, he called for a "special hermeneutic of empathy" to dissolve the classic philosophic issue of "other minds" by putting the issue in the context of the being-with of human relatedness. (Heidegger himself did not complete this inquiry.)<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Palgrave Macmillan | last = Agosta| first = Lou | title = Empathy in the Context of Philosophy | url = https://archive.org/details/empathyinthe_agos_2010_000_10406824 | url-access = registration | year = 2010 |page=20 | isbn = 9780230241831}}</ref>

Advocates of this approach claim that some texts, and the people who produce them, cannot be studied by means of using the same [[scientific method]]s that are used in the [[natural science]]s, thus drawing upon arguments similar to those of [[antipositivism]]. Moreover, they claim that such texts are conventionalized expressions of the experience of the author. Thus, the interpretation of such texts will reveal something about the [[social context]] in which they were formed, and, more significantly, will provide the reader with a means of sharing the experiences of the author.

The reciprocity between text and context is part of what Heidegger called the [[hermeneutic circle]]. Among the key thinkers who elaborated this idea was the [[Sociology|sociologist]] [[Max Weber]].

==== <span class="anchor" id="Gadamer"></span>Gadamer (1900–2002) ====
[[Hans-Georg Gadamer]]'s hermeneutics is a development of the hermeneutics of his teacher, Heidegger. Gadamer asserted that methodical contemplation is opposite to experience and reflection. We can reach the truth only by understanding or mastering our experience. According to Gadamer, our understanding is not fixed but rather is changing and always indicating new perspectives. The most important thing is to unfold the nature of individual understanding.

Gadamer pointed out that prejudice is an element of our understanding and is not ''per se'' without value. Indeed, prejudices, in the sense of pre-judgements of the thing we want to understand, are unavoidable. Being alien to a particular tradition is a condition of our understanding. He said that we can never step outside of our tradition—all we can do is try to understand it. This further elaborates the idea of the [[hermeneutic circle]].

==== New hermeneutic ====
[[New hermeneutic]] is the theory and methodology of interpretation to understand Biblical texts through [[existentialism]]. The essence of new hermeneutic emphasizes not only the existence of language but also the fact that language is eventualized in the history of individual life.<ref>(1999) Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, R.N. Soulen, "Ernst Fuchs", by John Hayes, 422–423</ref> This is called the event of language. [[Ernst Fuchs (theologian)|Ernst Fuchs]],<ref>Ernst Fuchs, Briefe an&nbsp;Gerhard Ebeling, in: Festschrift aaO 48</ref> [[Gerhard Ebeling]], and [[James M. Robinson]] are the scholars who represent the new hermeneutics.

==== Marxist hermeneutics<!--'Marxist hermeneutics' redirects here--> ====
The method of '''Marxist hermeneutics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> has been developed by the work of, primarily, [[Walter Benjamin]] and [[Fredric Jameson]]. Benjamin outlines his theory of the allegory in his study ''[[The Origin of German Tragic Drama|Ursprung des deutschen Trauerspiels]]''<ref name=Erasmus/> ("Trauerspiel" literally means "mourning play" but is often translated as "tragic drama").<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Verso | isbn = 978-1844673483 | last = Benjamin | first = Walter | title = Origin of the German Tragic Drama |year = 2009 }}</ref> [[Fredric Jameson]] draws on Biblical hermeneutics, [[Ernst Bloch]],<ref name=Kaufmann>David Kaufmann, "Thanks for the Memory: Bloch, Benjamin and the Philosophy of History," in ''Not Yet: Reconsidering Ernst Bloch'', ed. Jamie Owen Daniel and Tom Moylan (London and New York: Verson, 1997), p. 33.</ref> and the work of [[Northrop Frye]], to advance his theory of Marxist hermeneutics in his influential ''[[The Political Unconscious]]''. Jameson's Marxist hermeneutics is outlined in the first chapter of the book, titled "On Interpretation"<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Cornell University Press | isbn = 978-0-8014-9222-8 | last = Jameson | first = Fredric | title = The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act |year = 1982 }} pp. 17–102</ref> Jameson re-interprets (and secularizes) the [[Four senses of Scripture|fourfold system (or four levels) of Biblical exegesis]] (literal; moral; allegorical; anagogical) to relate interpretation to the [[mode of production]], and eventually, history.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Cornell University Press | isbn = 978-0801492846| last = Dowling | first = William C | title = Jameson, Althusser, Marx: Introduction to the Political Unconscious |year = 1984}}</ref>

==== <!--'Objective hermeneutics' redirects here--> Objective hermeneutics ====
[[Karl Popper]] first used the term "'''objective hermeneutics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->" in his ''Objective Knowledge'' (1972).<ref>[[Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka]] (ed.), ''Phenomenology of Life – From the Animal Soul to the Human Mind: Book II. The Human Soul in the Creative Transformation of the Mind'', Springer, 2007, p. 312.</ref>

In 1992, the Association for Objective Hermeneutics (AGOH) was founded in [[Frankfurt am Main]] by scholars of various disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Its goal is to provide all scholars who use the methodology of objective hermeneutics with a means of exchanging information.<ref>[https://www.objective-hermeneutics.com/ Association for Objective Hermeneutics website.] Accessed: 27 January 2014.</ref>

In one of the few translated texts of this German school of hermeneutics, its founders declared:

{{quote|Our approach has grown out of the empirical study of family interactions as well as reflection upon the procedures of interpretation employed in our research. For the time being we shall refer to it as objective hermeneutics in order to distinguish it clearly  from  traditional  hermeneutic  techniques  and orientations.  The  general  significance  for  sociological  analysis  of objective hermeneutics issues from the fact that, in the social sciences, interpretive methods constitute the fundamental procedures of measurement and of the generation of research data relevant to theory. From our perspective, the standard, nonhermeneutic  methods of quantitative social research can only be justified because they permit a shortcut in generating data (and research "economy" comes about under specific conditions). Whereas  the conventional methodological attitude in the social sciences justifies qualitative approaches as  exploratory or preparatory activities, to be succeeded by standardized approaches and techniques as the actual scientific procedures (assuring  precision, validity, and objectivity), we regard hermeneutic  procedures as the basic method for gaining precise and valid knowledge in the social  sciences. However, we do not simply reject alternative approaches dogmatically. They are in fact useful wherever the loss in precision and objectivity necessitated by the requirement of research economy can be condoned and tolerated in the light of prior hermeneutically elucidated research experiences.<ref>Oevermann, Ulrich; Tilman Allert, Elisabeth Konau, and Jürgen Krambeck. 1987. "Structures of meaning and objective Hermeneutics." pp. 436–447 in Modern German sociology, European Perspectives: a Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism, edited by [[Volker Meja]], [[Dieter Misgeld]], and [[Nico Stehr]]. New York: Columbia University Press.</ref>|}}

==== Other recent developments ====
[[Bernard Lonergan]]'s (1904–1984) hermeneutics is less well known, but a case for considering his work as the culmination of the [[Postmodernism|postmodern]] hermeneutical revolution that began with Heidegger was made in several articles by Lonergan specialist [[Frederick G. Lawrence]].<ref>Frederick G. Lawrence, "Martin Heidegger and the Hermeneutic Revolution", "Hans-Georg Gadamer and the Hermeneutic Revolution", "The Hermeneutic Revolution and Bernard Lonergan: Gadamer and Lonergan on Augustine's Verbum Cordis – the Heart of Postmodern Hermeneutics", "The Unknown 20th-Century Hermeneutic Revolution: Jerusalem and Athens in Lonergan's Integral Hermeneutics", ''[[Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education]]'' 19/1–2 (2008) 7–30, 31–54, 55–86, 87–118.</ref>

[[Paul Ricœur]] (1913–2005) developed a hermeneutics that is based upon Heidegger's concepts.

[[Karl-Otto Apel]] (1922–2017) elaborated a hermeneutics based on American [[semiotics]]. He applied his model to [[discourse ethics]] with political motivations akin to those of [[critical theory]].{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

[[Jürgen Habermas]] (b. 1929) criticized the conservatism of previous hermeneutists, especially [[Gadamer]], because their focus on tradition seemed to undermine possibilities for social criticism and transformation.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} He also criticized [[Marxism]] and previous members of the [[Frankfurt School]] for missing the hermeneutical dimension of [[critical theory]].

Habermas incorporated the notion of the [[lifeworld]] and emphasized the importance for social theory of interaction, communication, labor, and production.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} He viewed hermeneutics as a dimension of critical social theory.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

[[Rudolf Makkreel]] (b. 1939) has proposed an orientational hermeneutics that brings out the contextualizing function of reflective judgment. It extends ideas of [[Kant]] and [[Dilthey]] to supplement the dialogical approach of Gadamer with a diagnostic approach that can deal with an ever-changing and multicultural world.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

[[Andrés Ortiz-Osés]] (1943–2021) developed his [[symbolic hermeneutics]] as the [[Southern Europe|Mediterranean]] response to [[Northern Europe]]an hermeneutics. His main statement regarding symbolic understanding of the world is that [[Meaning (non-linguistic)|meaning]] is a [[symbol]]ic healing of injury.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Two scholars who have published criticism of Gadamer's hermeneutics are the Italian jurist [[Emilio Betti]] and the American literary theorist [[E. D. Hirsch]].

Other hermeneutic scholars include [[Jean Grondin]] (b. 1955) and [[Maurizio Ferraris]] (b. 1956).

== Applications ==
=== Archaeology ===
In [[archaeology]], hermeneutics means the interpretation and understanding of material through analysis of possible meanings and social uses.

Proponents argue that interpretation of artifacts is unavoidably hermeneutic because we cannot know for certain the meaning behind them. We can only apply modern values when interpreting. This is most commonly seen in [[stone tool]]s, where descriptions such as "scraper" can be highly subjective and actually unproven until the development of [[microwear analysis]] some thirty years ago.

Opponents argue that a hermeneutic approach is too [[Relativism|relativist]] and that their own interpretations are based on [[Common sense|common-sense]] evaluation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Knight |first1=Vernon J.|title=Iconographic Method in New World Prehistory|date= 2013|publisher=Cambridge Press|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5IRuDi7UW7gC&pg=PA15&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false 15–18]|isbn=9781107022638}}</ref>

=== Architecture ===
There are several traditions of architectural scholarship that draw upon the hermeneutics of [[Heidegger]] and [[Gadamer]], such as [[Christian Norberg-Schulz]], and [[Nader El-Bizri]] in the circles of [[Phenomenology (architecture)|phenomenology]]. Lindsay Jones examines the way architecture is received and how that reception changes with time and context (e.g., how a building is interpreted by critics, users, and historians).<ref>Jones, L. 2000. ''The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture: Experience, Interpretation, Comparison'', p. 263;''Volume Two: Hermeneutical Calisthenics: A Morphology of Ritual-Architectural Priorities'', Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press</ref> [[Dalibor Vesely]] situates hermeneutics within a critique of the application of overly scientific thinking to architecture.<ref>Vesely, D. 2004. ''Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation: The Question of Creativity in the Shadow of Production'', Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.</ref> This tradition fits within a critique of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]<ref>Perez-Gomez, A. 1985. ''Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science'', Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.</ref> and has also informed design-studio teaching. [[Adrian Snodgrass]] sees the study of history and Asian cultures by architects as a hermeneutical encounter with otherness.<ref>Snodgrass, A., and Coyne, R. 2006. ''Interpretation in Architecture: Design as a Way of Thinking'', London: Routledge, pp. 165–180.</ref> He also deploys arguments from hermeneutics to explain design as a process of interpretation.<ref>Snodgrass, A., and Coyne, R. 2006. ''Interpretation in Architecture: Design as a Way of Thinking'', London: Routledge, pp. 29–55</ref> Along with [[Richard Coyne]], he extends the argument to the nature of architectural education and design.<ref>Snodgrass, A.B., and Coyne, R.D. 1992. "Models, Metaphors and the Hermeneutics of Designing." ''Design Issues'', 9(1): 56 74.</ref>

=== Education ===
Hermeneutics motivates a broad range of applications in educational theory. The connection between hermeneutics and education has deep historical roots. The ancient Greeks gave the interpretation of poetry a central place in educational practice, as indicated by Dilthey: "systematic exegesis (''hermeneia'') of the poets developed out of the demands of the educational system."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dilthey |first1=W. |title=The rise of hermeneutics |journal=New Literary History |volume=3 |page=234}}</ref> 

Gadamer more recently wrote on the topic of education,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gadamer |first1=Hans-Georg |title=Hans-Georg Gadamer on education, poetry, and history: Applied hermeneutics |date=1992 |publisher=SUNY Press |location=Albany}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gadamer |first1=Hans-Georg |title=Education is self-education |journal=Journal of Philosophy of Education |date=2001 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=529–538|doi=10.1111/1467-9752.00243 }}</ref> and more recent treatments of educational issues across various hermeneutical approaches are to be found in Fairfield<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fairfield |first1=Paul |title=Education, Dialogue and Hermeneutics |date=2011 |publisher=Continuum |location=New York}}</ref> and Gallagher.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gallagher |first1=Shaun |title=Hermeneutics and Education |date=1992 |publisher=SUNY |location=Albany}}</ref>

=== Environment ===
[[Environmental hermeneutics]] applies hermeneutics to environmental issues conceived broadly to subjects including "[[nature]]" and "[[wilderness]]" (both terms are matters of hermeneutical contention), landscapes, ecosystems, built environments (where it overlaps architectural hermeneutics<ref>{{cite book|last=Mugerauer|first=Robert|title=Interpreting Environments|year=1995|publisher=University of Texas Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mugerauer|first=Robert|title=Interpretations on Behalf of Place|year=1994|publisher=SUNY Press}}</ref> ), inter-species relationships, the relationship of the body to the world, and more.

=== International relations ===
Insofar as hermeneutics is a basis of both [[critical theory]] and [[constitutive theory]] (both of which have made important inroads into the [[Postpositivism|postpositivist]] branch of [[international relations theory]] and [[political science]]), it has been applied to international relations.

[[Steve Smith (academic)|Steve Smith]] refers to hermeneutics as the principal way of grounding foundationalist yet postpositivist theory of [[international relations]].

Radical [[postmodernism]] is an example of a postpositivist anti-foundationalist [[paradigm]] of international relations.<ref>Østerud, Ø., "Antinomies of Postmodernism in International Studies", ''[[Journal of Peace Research]]'', Vol. 33, No. 4 (Nov., 1996), pp. 385–390.</ref>

=== Law ===
{{Main|Jurisprudence|Law}}
Some scholars argue that law and theology are particular forms of hermeneutics because of their need to interpret legal tradition or scriptural texts. Moreover, the problem of interpretation has been central to [[Law#Legal theory|legal theory]] since at least the 11th&nbsp;century.

In the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Italian Renaissance]], the schools of ''[[glossator]]es'', ''commentatores'', and ''usus modernus'' distinguished themselves by their approach to the interpretation of "laws" (mainly [[Justinian]]'s [[Corpus Juris Civilis]]). The [[University of Bologna]] gave birth to a "legal Renaissance" in the 11th&nbsp;century, when the Corpus Juris Civilis was rediscovered and systematically studied by men such as [[Irnerius]] and [[Decretum Gratiani#Author|Johannes Gratian]]. It was an interpretative Renaissance. Subsequently, these were fully developed by [[Thomas Aquinas]] and [[Alberico Gentili]].

Since then, interpretation has always been at the center of legal thought. [[Friedrich Carl von Savigny]] and [[Emilio Betti]], among others, made significant contributions to general hermeneutics. [[Interpretivism (legal)|Legal interpretivism]], most famously [[Ronald Dworkin]]'s, may be seen as a branch of philosophical hermeneutics.

=== Phenomenology ===
{{Main|Phenomenology (philosophy)|Hermeneutic phenomenology}}
In [[qualitative research]], the beginnings of [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]] stem from German philosopher and researcher [[Edmund Husserl]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Laverty|first=Susann M.|date=2003|title=Hermeneutic Phenomenology and Phenomenology: A Comparison of Historical and Methodological Considerations|journal=International Journal of Qualitative Methods|volume=2|issue=3|pages=21–35|doi=10.1177/160940690300200303|issn=1609-4069|doi-access=free}}</ref> In his early days, Husserl studied mathematics, but over time his disinterest with empirical methods led him to philosophy and eventually phenomenology. Husserl's phenomenology inquires on the specifics of a certain experience or experiences and attempts to unfold the meaning of experience in everyday life.<ref name=":02" /> Phenomenology started as philosophy and then developed into methodology over time. American researcher [[Don Ihde]] contributed to phenomenological research methodology through what he described as experimental phenomenology: "Phenomenology, in the first instance, is like an investigative science, an essential component of which is an experiment."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Ihde, Don.|title=Experimental phenomenology : an introduction|date=1986|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=0-88706-199-0|oclc=769696114}}</ref> His work contributed heavily to the implementation of phenomenology as a methodology.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Ihde|first=Don|title=Hermeneutic phenomenology: The philosopher of Paul Ricoeur|publisher=Northwestern University Press|year=1971|location=Evanston, Illinois}}</ref>

The beginnings of hermeneutic phenomenology stem from a German researcher and student of Husserl, [[Martin Heidegger]].<ref name=":02" /> Both researchers attempted to pull out the lived experiences of others through philosophical concepts, but Heidegger's main difference from Husserl was his belief that consciousness was not separate from the world but a formation of who we are as living individuals.<ref name=":02" /> Hermeneutic phenomenology stresses that every event or encounter involves some type of interpretation from an individual's background, and that we cannot separate this from an individual's development through life.<ref name=":02" /> Ihde also focuses on hermeneutic phenomenology within his early work, and draws connections between Husserl and French philosopher [[Paul Ricœur|Paul Ricoeur]]'s work in the field.<ref name=":2" /> Ricoeur focuses on the importance of symbols and linguistics within hermeneutic phenomenology.<ref name=":2" /> Overall, hermeneutic phenomenological research focuses on historical meanings and experiences, and their developmental and social effects on individuals.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hatch, J. Amos.|title=Doing qualitative research in education settings|date=2002|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=0-7914-5503-3|oclc=300225124}}</ref>

=== Political philosophy ===
Italian philosopher [[Gianni Vattimo]] and Spanish philosopher [[Santiago Zabala]] in their book ''[[Hermeneutic Communism]]'', when discussing contemporary capitalist regimes, stated that, "A politics of descriptions does not impose power in order to dominate as a philosophy; rather, it is functional for the continued existence of a society of dominion, which pursues truth in the form of imposition (violence), conservation (realism), and triumph (history)."<ref>Gianni Vattimo and Santiago Zabala. ''Hermeneutic Communism: From Heidegger to Marx'' Columbia University Press. 2011, p. 12.</ref>

Vattimo and Zabala also stated that they view [[Epistemological anarchism|interpretation as anarchy]] and affirmed that "existence is interpretation" and that "hermeneutics is weak thought."

=== Psychoanalysis ===
{{see also|Freud and Philosophy}}
Psychoanalysts have made ample use of hermeneutics since [[Sigmund Freud]] first gave birth to their discipline. In 1900 Freud wrote that the title he chose for ''[[The Interpretation of Dreams]]'' "makes plain which of the traditional approaches to the problem of dreams I am inclined to follow...[''i.e.''] 'interpreting' a dream implies assigning a 'meaning' to it."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Interpretation of Dreams|last=Freud|first=Sigmund|publisher=The Hogarth Press|year=1900|volume=Standard Edition, Vols. IV and V|location=London|pages=96}}</ref>

The French psychoanalyst [[Jacques Lacan]] later extended Freudian hermeneutics into other psychical realms. His early work from the 1930s–1950s is particularly influenced by Heidegger, and [[Maurice Merleau-Ponty]]'s hermeneutical phenomenology.

=== Psychology and cognitive science ===
{{See also|Postcognitivism}}

[[Psychologist]]s and [[Cognitive science]] have recently become interested in hermeneutics, especially as an alternative to [[Cognitivism (psychology)|cognitivism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gallagher |first1=Shaun |title=Hermeneutics and the cognitive sciences |journal=Journal of Consciousness Studies |date=2004 |volume=11 |issue=10–11 |pages=162–174}}</ref>

[[Hubert Dreyfus]]'s critique of conventional [[artificial intelligence]] has been influential among psychologists who are interested in hermeneutic approaches to meaning and interpretation, as discussed by philosophers such as [[Martin Heidegger]] (cf. [[Embodied cognition]]) and [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] (cf. [[Discursive psychology]]).

Hermeneutics is also influential in [[humanistic psychology]].<ref name=Rennie>{{Cite journal|title= Hermeneutics and Humanistic Psychology|author= David L. Rennie |journal = The Humanistic Psychologist |year=2007 |volume=35|issue=1 |url= http://www.apa.org/divisions/div32/pdfs/hermeneutics.pdf|access-date= 2009-07-07|archive-date=8 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608131702/http://www.apa.org/divisions/div32/pdfs/hermeneutics.pdf|doi=10.1080/08873260709336693|s2cid=143147583}}</ref>

=== Religion and theology ===
{{See also|Exegesis|Biblical hermeneutics|Talmudical hermeneutics|Quranic hermeneutics|Progressive illumination|Hermeneutics of the Second Vatican Council}}
The understanding of a [[Theology|theological]] [[Literature|text]] depends upon the reader's particular hermeneutical viewpoint. Some theorists, such as [[Paul Ricœur]], have applied modern philosophical hermeneutics to theological texts (in Ricœur's case, the Bible).

[[Mircea Eliade]], as a hermeneutist, understands religion as 'experience of the sacred', and interprets the sacred in relation to the profane.<ref>Eliade, Mircea (1987), ''The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion'', translated by Willard R. Trask. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.</ref> The Romanian scholar underlines that the relation between the sacred and the profane is not of opposition, but of complementarity, having interpreted the profane as a [[hierophany]].<ref>Iţu, Mircia (2002), ''Introducere în hermeneutică'' (''Introduction to Hermeneutics''), Brașov: Orientul latin, p. 63.</ref> The hermeneutics of the myth is a part of the hermeneutics of religion. Myth should not be interpreted as an illusion or a lie, because there is truth in myth to be rediscovered.<ref>Iţu, Mircia (2007), ''The Hermeneutics of the Myth'', in ''Lumină lină'', number 3, New York, pp. 33–49. {{ISSN|1086-2366}}</ref> Myth is interpreted by Eliade as 'sacred history'. He introduces the concept of 'total hermeneutics'.<ref>Eliade, Mircea (1978), ''La nostalgie des origines. Méthodologie et histoire des religions'', Paris: Editions Gallimard, p.  116.</ref>

The term was notably used in 2005 by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] saying the [[Hermeneutics_of_the_Second_Vatican_Council|Second Vatican Council]] needs to be viewed through the lens of a "hermeneutic of reform" rather than a "hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Benedict XVII |title=Christmas greetings to the Members of the Roman Curia and Prelature (December 22, 2005) |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2005/december/documents/hf_ben_xvi_spe_20051222_roman-curia.html |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> In subsequent discourse, this has become a "hermeneutic of continuity" contrasted with a "hermeneutic of rupture," and applied to dissident tendencies questioning recent church teaching in general<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mirus |first1=Jeff |title=Benedict's Hermeneutic of Continuity |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/ |website=www.catholicculture.org |access-date=10 March 2025}}</ref> and the teaching of [[Pope Francis]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gabriel |first1=Pedro |title=Reading Benedict and Francis with a hermeneutic of continuity |url=https://wherepeteris.com/reading-benedict-and-francis-with-a-hermeneutic-of-continuity/ |website=Where Peter Is |date=1 June 2021}}</ref>  Following this, the term is now widely used: e.g. [[Hermeneutics_of_suspicion|of suspicion]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pope |first1=Msgr Charles |title=Pondering the Hermeneutic of Suspicion |url=https://blog.adw.org/2009/11/pondering-the-hermeneutic-of-suspicion/ |website=Community in Mission |date=25 November 2009}}</ref> of tradition and ''kenosis'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chapp |first1=Larry |title=Dignitatis Humanae: Part Two: The Hermeneutic of Kenosis {{!}} Gaudium et Spes 22 |url=https://gaudiumetspes22.com/blog/dignitatis-humanae-part-two-the-hermeneutic-of-kenosis?ht-comment-id=4000690 |website=gaudiumetspes22.com |language=en}}</ref> and of synodality.<ref>{{cite web |title=Australian Catholic Theological 2024 Conference: "Synodality" |url=https://ampjp.org.au/event/australian-catholic-theological-2024-conference-synodality/ |website=Association of Ministerial PJP's |language=en-AU}}</ref> Benedict also spoke of the "hermeneutic of the cross", "[[Hermeneutics_of_faith|of faith]]" necessary for exegesis,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Kelly |title=An Application of Pope Benedict XVI's Principle of the "Hermeneutic of Faith" to the Problem of Divine Violence |url=https://saintpaulseminary.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Anderson_Kelly_2011_.pdf |website=St Paul Seminary, University of St Thomas |access-date=10 March 2025}}</ref> "of unity",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wainright |first1=Geoffrey |title=Towards an Ecumenical Hermeneutic: How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures Together? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23579346 |journal=Gregorianum |pages=639–662 |date=1995|volume=76 |issue=4 |jstor=23579346 }}</ref> while deploring a "hermeneutic of politics".<ref>{{cite web |title=Pope: media helped spread misinterpretations of Vatican II |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/26582/pope-media-helped-spread-misinterpretations-of-vatican-ii |website=Catholic News Agency |access-date=10 March 2025 |language=en}}</ref> Francis has warned against a "hermeneutic of conspiracy".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Mary Jo |title=The "Hermeneutic of Ambiguity" |url=https://insidethevatican.com/magazine/editorial/the-hermeneutic-of-ambiguity/ |website=Inside The Vatican |date=1 November 2015}}</ref> Pope John Paul II taught a "hermeneutic of the gift".<ref>{{cite web |last1=West |first1=Christopher |title=Library : In-Vitro Fertilization and the Hermeneutic of the Gift |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8413 |website=www.catholicculture.org |access-date=10 March 2025}}</ref>

=== Safety science ===
In the field of safety science, and especially in the study of [[human reliability]], scientists have become increasingly interested in hermeneutic approaches.

It has been proposed by [[Human factors and ergonomics|ergonomist]] Donald Taylor that [[Mechanical philosophy|mechanist]] models of human behaviour will only take us so far in terms of accident reduction, and that safety science must look at the meaning of accidents for human beings.<ref name=Taylor>{{Cite journal|doi= 10.1080/00140138108924870|title= The hermeneutics of accidents and safety|author= Donald Taylor |journal = Ergonomics |year=1981 | volume=24 |issue=6| pages=487–495 }}</ref>

Other scholars in the field have attempted to create safety [[Taxonomy (general)|taxonomies]] that make use of hermeneutic concepts in terms of their categorisation of [[qualitative data]].<ref name="Wallace">{{Cite journal |last1=Wallace |first1=B. |last2=Ross |first2=A. |last3=Davies |first3=J. B. |date=May 2003 |title=Applied Hermeneutics and Qualitative Safety Data |journal=Human Relations |volume=56 |issue=5 |pages=587–607 |citeseerx=10.1.1.570.3135 |doi=10.1177/0018726703056005004 |s2cid=5693713}}</ref>

=== Sociology ===
In [[sociology]], hermeneutics is the interpretation and understanding of social events through analysis of their meanings for the human participants in the events. It enjoyed prominence during the 1960s and 1970s, and differs from other interpretive schools of sociology in that it emphasizes both context<ref>Willis, W. J., & Jost, M. (2007). ''Foundations of qualitative research: Interpretive and critical approaches''. London: Sage. p. 106.</ref> and form within any given social behaviour.

The central principle of sociological hermeneutics is that it is only possible to know the meaning of an act or statement within the context of the discourse or [[world view]] from which it originates. Context is critical to comprehension; an action or event that carries substantial weight to one person or culture may be viewed as meaningless or entirely different to another. For example, giving the "thumbs-up" gesture is widely accepted as a sign of a job well done in the United States, while other cultures view it as an insult.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/body-speaks.aspx|title=NACADA > Resources > Clearinghouse > View Articles|website=nacada.ksu.edu}}</ref> Similarly, marking a piece of paper and putting it into a box might be considered a meaningless act unless it is put into the context of an election (the act of putting a [[Ballot|ballot paper]] into a box).{{or?|date=September 2025}}

[[Friedrich Schleiermacher]], widely regarded as the father of sociological hermeneutics believed that, in order for an interpreter to understand the work of another author, they must familiarize themselves with the historical context in which the author published their thoughts. His work led to the inspiration of Heidegger's "[[hermeneutic circle]]" a frequently referenced model that claims one's understanding of individual parts of a text is based on their understanding of the whole text, while the understanding of the whole text is dependent on the understanding of each individual part.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/schleiermacher/#4 |title= Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher |last= Forster |first= Michael |publisher= Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|year= 2017 }}</ref> Hermeneutics in sociology was also heavily influenced by Gadamer.<ref>Charles A. Pressler, Fabio B. Dasilva, ''Sociology and Interpretation: From Weber to Habermas'', SUNY Press, 1996, p.  168.</ref>

== Criticism ==
[[Jürgen Habermas]] criticizes Gadamer's hermeneutics (see [[#Gadamer|above]]) as being unsuitable for understanding society because it is unable to account for questions of social reality, like labor and domination.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mendelson|first=Jack|date=1979|title=The Habermas-Gadamer Debate|jstor=487850|journal=New German Critique|issue=18|pages=44–73 |doi=10.2307/487850 }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Allegorical interpretations of Plato]]
* [[Authorial intent]]
* [[Christian views on the Old Covenant]]
* [[Close reading]]
* [[Gymnobiblism]]
* [[Historical poetics]]
* [[Historicism]]
* [[Narrative inquiry]]
* [[Parallelomania]]
* [[Pesher]]
* [[Philology]]
* [[Principle of charity]]
* [[Quranic hermeneutics]]
* [[Reader-response criticism]]
* [[Structuration theory]]
* [[Symbolic anthropology]]
* [[Tafsir]]
* [[Christian theosophy]]
* [[Truth#Major theories|Truth theory]]
{{Div col end}}

=== Notable precursors ===
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Georg Anton Friedrich Ast]]<ref name="Gadamer">[[Hans-Georg Gadamer]], ''[[Truth and Method]]'', Bloomsbury, 2013, p. 185.</ref>
* [[Johann August Ernesti]]<ref>Forster 2010, p. 22.</ref>
* [[Johann Gottfried Herder]]<ref>Forster 2010, p. 9.</ref>
* [[Friedrich August Wolf]]<ref name="Gadamer"/>
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* [[Aristotle]], ''On Interpretation'', Harold P. Cooke (trans.), in ''Aristotle'', vol.&nbsp;1 ([[Loeb Classical Library]]), pp.&nbsp;111–179. London: [[Heinemann (book publisher)|William Heinemann]], 1938.
* [[Forrest Clingerman|Clingerman, F.]] and [[Brian Treanor|B. Treanor]], M. Drenthen, D. Ustler (2013), ''Interpreting Nature: The Emerging Field of Environmental Hermeneutics'', New York: Fordham University Press.
* [[Miguel A. De La Torre|De La Torre, Miguel A.]], "Reading the Bible from the Margins," Orbis Books, 2002.
* [[Ferdinand Fellmann|Fellmann, Ferdinand]], "Symbolischer Pragmatismus. Hermeneutik nach Dilthey", ''Rowohlts deutsche Enzyklopädie'', 1991.
* [[Michael Neil Forster|Forster, Michael N.]], [https://www.google.com/books/edition/After_Herder/MJ8SDAAAQBAJ?hl=es&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover ''After Herder: Philosophy of Language in the German Tradition''], Oxford University Press, 2010.
* Ginev, Dimitri, ''Essays in the Hermeneutics of Science'', Routledge, 2018.
* Khan, Ali, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=979394 "The Hermeneutics of Sexual Order"].
* [[Hans Köchler|Köchler, Hans]], "Zum Gegenstandsbereich der Hermeneutik", in ''Perspektiven der Philosophie'', vol. 9 (1983), pp.&nbsp;331–341.
* Köchler, Hans, "Philosophical Foundations of Civilizational Dialogue: The Hermeneutics of Cultural Self-comprehension Versus the Paradigm of Civilizational Conflict." International Seminar on Civilizational Dialogue (3rd: 15–17 September 1997: Kuala Lumpur), BP171.5 ISCD. Kertas kerja persidangan / conference papers. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Library, 1997.
* [[C. Mantzavinos|Mantzavinos, C.]] [https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/7AMr8-J9aBUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP1 ''Naturalistic Hermeneutics''], Cambridge University Press, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-521-84812-1}}.
* Oevermann, U. et al. (1987): "Structures of meaning and objective Hermeneutics". In: Meha, V. et al. (eds.). ''Modern German Sociology''. European Perspectives: a Series in Social Thought and Cultural Ctiticism. New York: Columbia University Press, pp.&nbsp;436–447.
* Olesen, Henning Salling, ed. (2013): "Cultural Analysis and In-Depth Hermeneutics." ''[[Historical Social Research]]'', Focus, 38, no. 2, pp.&nbsp;7–157.
* Przyłębski, Andrzej. ''The Value of Motherland: An Introduction to a Hermeneutic Philosophy of Politics'', LIT Verlag, Zurich 2022.
* Przyłębski, Andrzej. ''Hermeneutics Between Philosophy and Theology: The Imperative to Think the Incommensurable'', Germany, Münster: LIT Verlag, 2010.
* [[Andrzej Wierciński|Wierciński, Andrzej]]. ''Ethics in the Light of Hermeneutical Philosophy'', LIT Verlag, Zurich 2017. 

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|hermeneutics}}
{{Commonscat}}
* [http://www.digitalpeirce.fee.unicamp.br/p-infwir.htm Abductive Inference and Literary theory – Pragmatism, Hermeneutics and Semiotics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604131506/http://www.digitalpeirce.fee.unicamp.br/p-infwir.htm |date=4 June 2013 }} written by Uwe Wirth.
* [https://www.metajournal.org/display_page.php?title=home Meta: Research in Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, and Practical Philosophy] – International peer-reviewed journal.
* [https://archive.today/20130411141156/http://www.objective-hermeneutics.com/bibliography/bibliographic-database.html Objective Hermeneutics Bibliographic Database] provided by the [https://www.objective-hermeneutics.com/ Association for Objective Hermeneutics].
* [[Henk de Berg|de Berg, Henk]]: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTtiTgStBYE Gadamer's Hermeneutics: An Introduction] (2015)
* de Berg, Henk: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMEFAAEm0IE Ricoeur's Hermeneutics: An Introduction] (2015)
* [http://www.mac.edu/faculty/richardpalmer/ Palmer, Richard E.], "The Liminality of Hermes and the Meaning of Hermeneutics"
* Palmer, Richard E., "The Relevance of Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics to Thirty-Six Topics or Fields of Human Activity", Lecture Delivered at the Department of Philosophy, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 1 April 1999, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928141532/http://www.mac.edu/faculty/richardpalmer/relevance.html Eprint].
* [[Plato]], ''[[Ion (dialogue)|Ion]]'', [[Paul Woodruff]] (trans.) in Plato, ''Complete Works'', ed. [[John M. Cooper (philosopher)|John M. Cooper]]. Indianapolis: [[Hackett Publishing Company]], 1997, [https://books.google.com/books?id=fMhgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT937&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false pp. 937–949].
* Quintana Paz, Miguel Ángel, "[https://philpapers.org/archive/PAZOHE.pdf On Hermeneutical Ethics and Education: 'Bach ais Erzieher']", a paper on the relevance of Gadamer's Hermeneutics for our understanding of Music, Ethics and our Education in both.
* Szesnat, Holger, "Philosophical Hermeneutics", [https://biblicalhermeneutics.wordpress.com/hermeneutics-links/philosophical-hermeneutics/ Webpage].

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[[Category:Hermeneutics| ]]
[[Category:Literary criticism]]
[[Category:Philosophy of Martin Heidegger]]
[[Category:Philosophical methodology]]
[[Category:Religious terminology]]