Gadamer’s Hermeneutic Holism.pdf

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Gadamer’s Hermeneutic Holism
A Dissertation Presented
by
Peter Erik Fristedt
to
The Graduate School
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements
for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in
Philosophy
Stony Brook University
May 2008
Copyright by
Peter Erik Fristedt
2008
Stony Brook University
The Graduate School
Peter Erik Fristedt
We, the dissertation committee for the above candidate for the
Doctor of Philosophy degree, hereby recommend
acceptance of this dissertation.
Lorenzo Simpson – Dissertation Advisor
Professor, Department of Philosophy
Eduardo Mendieta - Chairperson of Defense
Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy
Hugh J. Silverman
Professor, Department of Philosophy
Georgia Warnke
Professor of Philosophy
University of California, Riverside
This dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School
Lawrence Martin
Dean of the Graduate School
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Abstract of the Dissertation
Gadamer’s Hermeneutic Holism
by
Peter Erik Fristedt
Doctor of Philosophy
in
Philosophy
Stony Brook University
2008
This dissertation uses the resources of philosophical hermeneutics to address
problems that arise in holistic accounts of meaning. Holism holds that meaning is
context-dependent, where ‘context’ is typically construed as one’s total theory of
the world. Such a view makes communication difficult between total theories that
differ even slightly, as slight differences within a total theory translate into global
theory difference. The question the dissertation asks is whether one can retain a
holistic view of meaning while avoiding such problematic consequences. I begin
by considering Quine’s and Davidson’s versions of holism, arguing that the
consequences of holism are in part due to the tendency of holists to think of total
theories as consisting of sets of interconnected statements. I find an alternative to
this view in the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer, and devote the middle three
chapters of the dissertation to outlining his philosophy of interpretation. Total
theories—worldviews—are for Gadamer networks of interrelated beliefs and
questions. For the interpreter, questions open up the distinction between the being
of the thing in question and its presentation in an interpretation. This distinction is
in play in all interpretation, but it also collapses in all interpretation: the object of
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