PS390 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Existentialism, Karl Jaspers, Logotherapy
Document Summary
Meanings of hermeneutics: hermeneutics is the discipline of understanding and interpreting meaning or the art and science of interpretation, later, hermeneutics involved the judaeo-christian practice of biblical interpretation. Subjective methods, such as the hermeneutic method, must be called upon to fully understand the human condition and the human mind: hermeneutic circle: understanding is always framed by something that is, already understood. For instance, if you want to understand a text, you must consider the whole in order to understand the meaning of its particular parts. Yet also you must understand the parts of the text in order to understand the whole meaning of the book: horizon: one"s personal knowledge and experiences are the ground and limit of understanding. On a larger scale each horizon of understanding is historically determined and culturally embedded. Yet realizing that one is situated within a specific tradition does not limit freedom of knowledge; it makes it possible.
