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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.

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Courses / Module

HERMENEUTICS: UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETATION