mustardseed's review
4.0
read the intro and first chapter, utterly confused by the number of “being”s in it, came back to it 3 months later and finished it in 1.5 weeks. the first half of the book is highly technical (explaining the key ideas of hermeneutics, essentially that everything is an interpretation), while the second half (chapter 7+) ostensibly deals with the “application” aspect (fair warning - i still found it highly technical and abstract, though perhaps marginally less).
that being said, it’s still remarkably readable for a book that grasps with philosophical abstractions. enjoyed the later half especially, seeing how this idea of interpretation is seen in the world. an interesting framework to look at the world (fitting, since it espouses the idea that everything we see is within/through a framework). towards the end, there was also a sense of empathy in his writing despite the theoretical elements - not having hermeneutics remain a theory but a “philosophy of life”.
and sometimes it’s just fun (fun?? maybe?? in a slightly masochistic way) to grapple with subtle complicated ideas. it also contained good introductions (allusions?) to other philosophical ideas in the 20th century e.g. existentialism, metaphysical thought, structuralism, post-modernism (very much intertwined with hermeneutics).
a minor quibble: the title talks about “in the age of information” but i found that particular section of the book to be the weakest (a lot of highly complicated and rich topics such as genetic modification were just talked about briefly, not particularly insightfully). the chapter that made the greatest impact on me was chapter 10, dealing with religion in the post-modern context, still thinking about that.
chapter summaries (for my own reference):
1. how heidegger changed everything: “being and time” - daesin as the being that interprets itself in the world (both individual and collective), hermeneutics as starting from what’s around us rather than nothing a la descartes, interpretation is what we are rather than what we do
2. heidegger strikes again: heidegger’s later refutation of his initial ideas through “a letter to humanism” which espouses “being” as something greater & beyond that reveals itself through historical ages
3. gadamer’s truth and method: 1) art is a microscope into life, participative (artist has 1st interpretation, audience has 2nd) 2) art is separate from the artist (artist merely constitutes 1st intepretation of something), history is not objectivist (i.e. pure facts) but the “fusion of horizons” from present-past difference 3) language used to express understanding rather than pure linguistics
4. derrida and the two interpretations of interpretation: deconstruction as close reading texts to reveal inherent contradictions, 1st interpretation remaining in text to arrive at “higher truth” (rabbi) while 2nd interpretation to create something other than the text (poet) while true interpretation is between those (”fission of horizons”, constant unrest)
5. structuralism, post-structuralism and the age of the program: structuralism sees language as a technological system of words, but looking at words not as having inherent meaning but rather meaning conferred due to their difference between one another (not binary), needing to programme for the unprogrammable
6. the roguish hermeneutics of vattimo and rorty: strong absolute truth (metaphysics) taken over by “weak” (multiple interpretations, where everyone has a different perspective), importance of democracy (as conversation rather than violence)
7. the call of justice and the short arm of the law: law is construction v justice which is undeconstructable (is not something we can reach but rather a “call”), it is the space in between to exercise justice (derrida’s 2 interpretations), 3 aphorias 1) treat each case individually 2) oscillate between law and justice (construct + undeconstructable) 3) urgency (must make decisions rather than refusing to act due to the impossibility of justice)
8. gadamerian nurses: interpretation happens through institutions interpreting themselves, medical profession as a series of constant events (acquired horizon of expectation and the unexpected new), nurses and teachers having to navigate that space in-between and interpret every individual “event”. “their words ‘existed in the space we created between us’ and the conversation ‘belongs’ to no one”
9. spectre of the post human: 2 ideas of post human 1) human as technological system 2) human as just another form of animal, humans and science (genetic coding, plasticity of brain, uncertainty and wonder of science e.g. astrophysics)
10. post-modern, post-secular, post-religious: no science/religion binary, danger of science becoming the new dogma religion was, rising secularism and reasons (1) mythology of bible, 2) understanding pluralism of world), tillich’s viewpoints that God is not an object described by thinking subjects (whereas our language necessarily makes him that), religion in every area of life, christianity as with all religions is a symbol, religion reveals important revelations in a poetic sense (like a parable/sketch that is neither “just a drawing” without meaning but neither is it that ungraspable idea of God). "the hermeneutics of the unconditional, leading an unconditional life - being seized by something of unconditional worth, affirming something of unconditional value, without having a Big Story about the ultimate nature of reality."
11. a quick review: decide to live a life in response to what’s around us. "we cannot live in sheer, open-ended suspense, waiting for a Final Word that never arrives. so, we have in need of various provisional hermeneutics substitutes - stand-ins, representatives, representations, place-holders, symbols, couriers, envoys, agents, delegates, spokespersons, philosophical and theological nicknames - to give concrete form to the call, to allow the 'unconditional' to take shape in the concrete conditions in which it presents itself."
"yes, yes, amen - to the future, to the promise of the world, to the endless interpretability and re-interpretability of the world."
that being said, it’s still remarkably readable for a book that grasps with philosophical abstractions. enjoyed the later half especially, seeing how this idea of interpretation is seen in the world. an interesting framework to look at the world (fitting, since it espouses the idea that everything we see is within/through a framework). towards the end, there was also a sense of empathy in his writing despite the theoretical elements - not having hermeneutics remain a theory but a “philosophy of life”.
and sometimes it’s just fun (fun?? maybe?? in a slightly masochistic way) to grapple with subtle complicated ideas. it also contained good introductions (allusions?) to other philosophical ideas in the 20th century e.g. existentialism, metaphysical thought, structuralism, post-modernism (very much intertwined with hermeneutics).
a minor quibble: the title talks about “in the age of information” but i found that particular section of the book to be the weakest (a lot of highly complicated and rich topics such as genetic modification were just talked about briefly, not particularly insightfully). the chapter that made the greatest impact on me was chapter 10, dealing with religion in the post-modern context, still thinking about that.
chapter summaries (for my own reference):
1. how heidegger changed everything: “being and time” - daesin as the being that interprets itself in the world (both individual and collective), hermeneutics as starting from what’s around us rather than nothing a la descartes, interpretation is what we are rather than what we do
2. heidegger strikes again: heidegger’s later refutation of his initial ideas through “a letter to humanism” which espouses “being” as something greater & beyond that reveals itself through historical ages
3. gadamer’s truth and method: 1) art is a microscope into life, participative (artist has 1st interpretation, audience has 2nd) 2) art is separate from the artist (artist merely constitutes 1st intepretation of something), history is not objectivist (i.e. pure facts) but the “fusion of horizons” from present-past difference 3) language used to express understanding rather than pure linguistics
4. derrida and the two interpretations of interpretation: deconstruction as close reading texts to reveal inherent contradictions, 1st interpretation remaining in text to arrive at “higher truth” (rabbi) while 2nd interpretation to create something other than the text (poet) while true interpretation is between those (”fission of horizons”, constant unrest)
5. structuralism, post-structuralism and the age of the program: structuralism sees language as a technological system of words, but looking at words not as having inherent meaning but rather meaning conferred due to their difference between one another (not binary), needing to programme for the unprogrammable
6. the roguish hermeneutics of vattimo and rorty: strong absolute truth (metaphysics) taken over by “weak” (multiple interpretations, where everyone has a different perspective), importance of democracy (as conversation rather than violence)
7. the call of justice and the short arm of the law: law is construction v justice which is undeconstructable (is not something we can reach but rather a “call”), it is the space in between to exercise justice (derrida’s 2 interpretations), 3 aphorias 1) treat each case individually 2) oscillate between law and justice (construct + undeconstructable) 3) urgency (must make decisions rather than refusing to act due to the impossibility of justice)
8. gadamerian nurses: interpretation happens through institutions interpreting themselves, medical profession as a series of constant events (acquired horizon of expectation and the unexpected new), nurses and teachers having to navigate that space in-between and interpret every individual “event”. “their words ‘existed in the space we created between us’ and the conversation ‘belongs’ to no one”
9. spectre of the post human: 2 ideas of post human 1) human as technological system 2) human as just another form of animal, humans and science (genetic coding, plasticity of brain, uncertainty and wonder of science e.g. astrophysics)
10. post-modern, post-secular, post-religious: no science/religion binary, danger of science becoming the new dogma religion was, rising secularism and reasons (1) mythology of bible, 2) understanding pluralism of world), tillich’s viewpoints that God is not an object described by thinking subjects (whereas our language necessarily makes him that), religion in every area of life, christianity as with all religions is a symbol, religion reveals important revelations in a poetic sense (like a parable/sketch that is neither “just a drawing” without meaning but neither is it that ungraspable idea of God). "the hermeneutics of the unconditional, leading an unconditional life - being seized by something of unconditional worth, affirming something of unconditional value, without having a Big Story about the ultimate nature of reality."
11. a quick review: decide to live a life in response to what’s around us. "we cannot live in sheer, open-ended suspense, waiting for a Final Word that never arrives. so, we have in need of various provisional hermeneutics substitutes - stand-ins, representatives, representations, place-holders, symbols, couriers, envoys, agents, delegates, spokespersons, philosophical and theological nicknames - to give concrete form to the call, to allow the 'unconditional' to take shape in the concrete conditions in which it presents itself."
"yes, yes, amen - to the future, to the promise of the world, to the endless interpretability and re-interpretability of the world."
galateadoesbooks's review
5.0
An amazingly succinct and readable introduction to the field of hermeneutics, or the interpretation of interpretation.
Goes through a fair bit of big names such as Heidegger, Gadamer, Derrida, Rorty, and others. An ideal introductory text for anyone into the Continental side of 20th century philosophy. Highly Recommended.
Goes through a fair bit of big names such as Heidegger, Gadamer, Derrida, Rorty, and others. An ideal introductory text for anyone into the Continental side of 20th century philosophy. Highly Recommended.
georglowinger's review
4.0
An excellent introduction to Hermeneutics and Deconstruction, which relies on little prior knowledge, and provides fantastic application to the modern information age.
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