100 GAD 2

It's useful to have an understanding of historicism, positivism, and the work of Heidegger before starting on this one; my introduction was through the commentary by Professor Michael Sugrue at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07DrmAkIoE4, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences.

A brilliant introduction to the practice of hermeneutics (the art of understanding). Gadamer manages to clearly describe the conditions for understanding, revealing many great ideas also present in Derrida, Levinas and others. The advantage of Gadamer is that he explains these ideas with rigor and systematically. It is not an easy book, but due to Gadamer's skill in explaining, the ideas manage to get across quite well.

Especially noteworthy is the unbelievable achievement of Gadamer to cross the boundaries of hermeneutics as a practice of understanding texts, towards an ontological hermeneutics. Here he is especially close to Derrida's concept of differance, which, albeit in first instance refering to language, also refers to world-constitution. The last part of Wahrheit und Methode is of paramount importance to understand these ideas and I would recommend it the most - even though it becomes most clear if one reads the entire book. ( )

12/10/21

A classic text on hermeneutics which uses Plato's Cratylus as the basis for analysis. ( )