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The Problem of Objectivity in Gadamer's Hermeneutics in Light of McDowell's Empiricism

  • Book
  • © 2015

Overview

Authors:
  1. Morten S. Thaning

    1. Copenhagen Business School, Department of Politics, Management and Philosophy, Frederiksberg, Denmark

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  • Is the first to inquire into the role of perceptual experience within the framework of hermeneutics
  • Provides a critical alternative to postmodern appropriations of hermeneutics
  • Achieves a ‘fusion of horizons’ between the two thinkers

Part of the book series: Contributions to Hermeneutics (CONT HERMEN, volume 1)

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction: Reconstructing Philosophical Hermeneutics

    • Morten S. Thaning
    Pages 1-12

  3. The Lack of Objectivity in Postmodern Hermeneutics

    • Morten S. Thaning
    Pages 13-36

  4. The Socratic Paradigm of Objectivity

    • Morten S. Thaning
    Pages 37-59

  5. Perceptual Experience and the Ontology of Self-Presentation

    • Morten S. Thaning
    Pages 61-115

  6. Historical and Situated Objectivity: Tradition and Phronēsis

    • Morten S. Thaning
    Pages 117-165

  7. Hermeneutic Meaning and Apophantic Alienation

    • Morten S. Thaning
    Pages 167-202

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 203-212
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Keywords

About this book

This book reassesses Gadamer’s hermeneutics by bringing it into a dialogue with John McDowell’s minimal empiricism. It employs the resources of McDowell’s minimal empiricism to address the transcendental and ontological presuppositions for objective experience and understanding, while retaining Gadamer’s emphasis on the historicity of understanding. By means of the dialogue with McDowell, the book develops a hermeneutical conception of objectivity and perceptual experience, which also entails reinterpretations of Gadamer’s notions of tradition, practical wisdom and meaning. The book explores the philosophical space beyond the analytic-Continental divide and demonstrates that hermeneutics is not limited to a reflection on understanding as it is practiced in the human sciences, but can be revived as a distinct and cogent philosophical approach with a transcendental and ontological dimension.

Thaning's book is a richly detailed, well-argued and coherent presentation of a defensible, and potentially very important, philosophical position. It demonstrates an impressively deep understanding of the literature both from the phenomenological tradition and from the part of the analytical tradition, inspired by Wilfred Sellars, to which John McDowell belongs. Being a substantial philosophical achievement in its own right, the book raises far-reaching ques
tions that will be of interest to a wide audience.

Dr. Steven Crowell, Rice University, Houston (USA)


Morten Thaning’s book is an important contribution to the discourse of philosophical hermeneutics. Thaning extensively discusses a topic, which recent debates have touched upon, but which up to now has not been the subject matter of concentrated scholarly work: the relation between Gadamer’s hermeneutics and McDowell’s empiricism. With Thaning’s interpretation Gadamer’ work can be read anew as concerning the problem of hermeneutical objectivity.

Prof. Dr. Günter Figal, University of Freiburg (Germany)


Authors and Affiliations

  • Copenhagen Business School, Department of Politics, Management and Philosophy, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Morten S. Thaning

About the author

Morten S. Thaning, PhD, is Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Copenhagen Business School. He has published work on Ancient Philosophy, Heidegger, Gadamer, Foucault and John McDowell. He is currently engaged in the research project "Selfunderstanding and Selfalienation – Existential Hermeneutics and Psychopathology", funded by the Velux Foundation.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Problem of Objectivity in Gadamer's Hermeneutics in Light of McDowell's Empiricism

  • Authors: Morten S. Thaning

  • Series Title: Contributions to Hermeneutics

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18648-1

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-18647-4Published: 02 September 2015

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-37279-2Published: 22 October 2016

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-18648-1Published: 21 August 2015

  • Series ISSN: 2509-6087

  • Series E-ISSN: 2509-6095

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VI, 212

  • Topics: Phenomenology, Philosophy of Mind, Ontology

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