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HERMENEUTICS: UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETATION

Module code: PH342
Credits: 5
Semester: 1
Department: PHILOSOPHY
International:

	Overview
	This module examines hermeneutics as a theory of understanding and interpretation and, in particular, its development from a method used to interpret texts to a central feature of the way the human understanding itself unfolds in human existence. The module will start with a short overview of the historical setting and then focus on the development of hermeneutics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, taking into consideration important thinkers such as: Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer and Ricoeur. It will finish with an analysis and assessment of Derrida’s deconstructive analysis of hermeneutics.

Overview

This module examines hermeneutics as a theory of understanding and interpretation and, in particular, its development from a method used to interpret texts to a central feature of the way the human understanding itself unfolds in human existence. The module will start with a short overview of the historical setting and then focus on the development of hermeneutics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, taking into consideration important thinkers such as: Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer and Ricoeur. It will finish with an analysis and assessment of Derrida’s deconstructive analysis of hermeneutics.

	Learning Outcomes
	On successful completion of the module, students should be able to: Discriminate between different concepts of hermeneutics and its evolution, such as Schleiermacher’s concept of hermeneutics as ‘art of understanding’ or Heidegger’s notion of ‘being-there’ (‘Dasein’) as understanding. Analyse the concepts of hermeneutics developed by Schleiermacher and Dilthey, and assess their relevance to Heidegger’s elaboration of hermeneutic phenomenology. Evaluate the ‘pragmatic turn’ in hermeneutics by Dilthey and Heidegger, and its retraction by Gadamer. Explain how hermeneutics can be seen not only as a theory of interpreting texts but also of human action and human existence. Analyse critically Ricoeur’s distinction between the hermeneutics of tradition and a hermeneutics of suspicion. Describe Derrida’s deconstructivism and his deconstructive analysis of hermeneutics.

Learning Outcomes

Teaching & Learning methods

Assessment

	Timetable
	This timetable is not currently available, please contact the Philosophy Department.