The
theory and
methodology of
interpretation, especially of
text (though it can also be applied to other
media). It is generally applied to areas of
tradition such as
religious texts and
legal precedents.
Hermeneutics is derived from the
Greek hermeneutika, a word that is, in itself, derived from the name of the Greek god
Hermes, the
messenger and
interpreter of the
gods.
Why hermeneutics are used
Language, especially
figurative language, is often
obscure and
vague and thus needs to be interpreted. In the study of religious writings, it is often found that they are written in a certain
vernacular and for a specific
audience. In order to truly understand said writings, it is important to put them in their proper cultural and historical
context.
The German philosopher
Martin Heidegger was interested in reading philosophy in the original Greek, and noticed that
translators often added their own interpretations as they translated. Again, in order to truly understand those texts, it is necessary to remove any
bias by the translator.
It should be noted that hermeneutics cannot be used to rectify
objective falsehoods, nor can it be used to verify the
authenticity of a writing. Hermeneutics does not attempt to determine what is true or false, but only what the writer intended to say. This being said, a
conclusion made with the use of hermeneutics is still open for
revision and is never really complete (see hermeneutic circle below).
Application
This is where a text proves its value when applied to
contemporary life. The application of hermeneutics allows, for example, a
judge to apply the
law to a case or a
priest to write a
sermon based on
scripture. With their application, the judge and priest are creating a new interpretation, thereby changing the very principles they have applied. Future applications of the law or scripture may even use past applications as
precedent (this is especially common in the practice of law).
The Hermeneutic Circle
This use of precedent in the application of hermeneutics represents what is called the hermeneutic
circle, where our beliefs about a certain text are subjected to
critical testing. It is actually similar to the way in which
science is practiced. Scientists start by identifying a problem, and they
theorize the answer to that problem. In performing and observing their
experiment to test the problem, they gain new insights which must then be used to revise their hypothesis. This is basically a hermeneutic circle.
Another example: When reading a
book, we are influenced by our overall view of the book's
themes. But how are we to know the book's themes as a
whole if we have not yet finished reading the
parts of the book? We need to start reading the book with our own "pre-understanding", from which we hypothesize a main theme for the whole book. After we finish reading the book, we go back to each individual chapter with this main theme in mind to get a better understanding of how all the parts relate to the whole. During this process, we often end up changing our main theme. With the new information gained from this revision, we can again
revise our main theme of the book, and so on, until we can see a
coherent and
consistent picture of the whole book. What we get out of this hermeneutic circle is not
absolute and
final, but it is considered to be
reasonable because it has withstood the process of critical testing.
Hermeneutics of Suspicion and Affirmation
The French philosopher
Paul Ricoeur found that he was uncomfortable with the
subjective nature of hermeneutics. Each application of hermeneutics contains the
bias of the person doing the application. Ricoeur points out three "master's of suspicion":
Marx,
Nietzche, and
Freud. He recognized that their "hermeneutics of
suspicion" presented an incomplete picture or
religion. His response was to perform a "hermeneutics of
affirmation" in order to achieve a sort of
Hegelian equilibrium in which a
synthesis transcends a critical or affirmative ideology and becomes a
neutral one.
Sources:
http://szabo.best.vwh.net/hermeneutics.html
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07271a.htm
http://capo.org/premise/95/sep/p950812.html
http://www.vlsi.uwaterloo.ca/~khkwok/postmodernism/node60.html
http://www.geocities.com/philodept/diwatao/neutral_conception_of_ideology.htm
This is not meant to be an exhaustive discussion of hermeneutics; Though I am familiar with all the ideas discussed above, I am not an expert on the subject, and, as such, welcome any criticism or suggestions anyone might have.