Paul Ricoeur's Hermeneutic Detours.pdf

(2252 KB) Pobierz
Paul Ricoeur's Hermeneutic Detours
and Distanciations: A Study of the
Hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer
and Paul Ricoeur
Author: Carlos Eduardo Bohorquez
Persistent link:
http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1389
This work is posted on
eScholarship@BC,
Boston College University Libraries.
Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2010
Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
Boston College
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Department of Philosophy
PAUL RICOEUR‘S HERMENEUTIC DETOURS AND DISTANCIATIONS:
A STUDY OF THE HERMENEUTICS OF
HANS-GEORG GADAMER AND PAUL RICOEUR
a dissertation
by
Carlos Bohorquez
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
May 2010
© copyright by CARLOS EDUARDO BOHORQUEZ ROMERO
2010
Abstract:
“Paul Ricoeur's Hermeneutic Detours and Distanciations: A Study of the Hermeneutics of
Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur”
By:
Carlos Eduardo Bohorquez
Advisor:
David M. Rasmussen
Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur have each proposed remarkably similar hermeneutic
approaches to the interpretation of texts. They both approach hermeneutics starting from particular
insights in Husserl's and Heidegger's respective phenomenologies. They both are wary of the claims of
the need for objectivity to provide adequate interpretations of texts. They both turn to Plato and Aristotle
to provide models and insights for the interpretation of texts. Gadamer and Ricoeur both devote
considerable attention to the critique of prior significant figures in hermeneutics. They both utilize and
exploit the difference between the structures and elements of a language and the actual use and
expressions made in that language for the purpose of explaining how meaning is created.
For all their similarities, there are differences between the hermeneutic approaches and theories
of Gadamer and Ricoeur. One significant difference between the two is the attitude that each thinker takes
toward tradition or dogma. Gadamer approaches prior interpretive contexts, i.e., tradition, in a manner
that privileges their capacity to provide viewpoints to adequately and effectively interpret texts. Ricoeur,
on the other hand, eyes tradition more critically. His research into many of the human sciences and their
methodological and philosophical foundations leads to a greater awareness and acceptance of the possible
deceptive and misleading capacities of tradition.
This difference in attitude toward tradition expresses itself clearly in another difference
between the two thinkers. Gadamer, unlike Ricoeur, is unwilling to accept the inclusion of methodologies
and insights of the human sciences within the purview of hermeneutics. Gadamer argues that such an
inclusion would be anathema to the hermeneutic and philosophical project. Ricoeur, on the other hand,
argues that the inclusion of these insights leads to a broadening of hermeneutic resources and to the
continued relevance of hermeneutics to the philosophical project.
The inclusion of the insights of the human sciences within hermeneutics also points to another significant
difference between Gadamer and Ricoeur. Ricoeur argues that the determination of the meaning of a text
must always be achieved through a detour to a viewpoint that lies outside the text. There must be some
distance between the text and interpreter if the interpreter is to provide an adequate interpretation. Ricoeur
recognizes that this demand would seem to place him in the camp of those hermeneutists who demand
objectivity for acceptable interpretation. Ricoeur provides a convincing defense against this charge.
Gadamer, on the other hand, argues that any move outside of that of the text serves to impose an
interpretation upon it that is not sensitive or authentic to it. For Gadamer, recourse to an interpretive
viewpoint outside of the text is merely a capitulation to the methodologies of control and domination of
positivism and scientism.
In this dissertation I explore the similarities and differences among the theories of Gadamer and
Ricoeur. I explore the similarities and differences that some commentators of Gadamer and Ricoeur have
found. I provide a detailed examination of Gadamer's pivotal work Truth and Method. I consider
Gadamer's assessments of prior hermeneutical figures, like Schleiermacher and Dilthey, and Gadamer's
proposals for an alternative approach to hermeneutical interpretation. I also examine two of Ricoeur's
significant works: The Conflict of Interpretations and Time and Narrative. In a short, but dense, article
Ricoeur speaks directly to what he perceives to be the difference between his work and that of Gadamer
and Habermas. Through the analysis of these three works, I hope to demonstrate how Ricoeur's
hermeneutical theory is both similar to and different from Gadamer's. I argue that Ricoeur's hermeneutics
provides resources to address some of the weaknesses present in Gadamer's thought, particularly
Gadamer's assessment of the reliability of tradition for the interpretation of texts.
 

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin