Course
GP313 - Hermeneutics
General Information
| Course Type | On Campus |
| Course Category | P2. Systematic Philosophy |
| Description | Teaching Objective: This course aims to provide a systematic introduction to the historical development, central problems, and contemporary significance of philosophical hermeneutics. It enables students to understand how hermeneutics developed from an art and method of textual interpretation into a philosophical reflection on understanding, language, historicity, tradition, and self-understanding. The course guides students through the main trajectory of philosophical hermeneutics, especially from Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer, and Paul Ricoeur onward. It shows how hermeneutics ceased to be merely an auxiliary method for particular disciplines and became one of the important foundations of modern philosophy, the human sciences, and theological reflection. The course also helps students reflect on the significance of philosophical hermeneutics for theological studies, particularly in relation to biblical interpretation, the understanding of tradition, doctrinal development, religious symbolism, and contemporary conflicts of interpretation. Teaching Content: The course first introduces the ancient background of hermeneutics and the Christian tradition of interpretation. Hermeneutics was originally closely connected with the interpretation of classical texts, legal texts, biblical texts, and the philological tradition. The biblical tradition of interpretation, especially its distinctions among literal, allegorical, moral, and spiritual meanings, provided an important background for the development of Western hermeneutics. The course then examines the formation of philosophical hermeneutics. Schleiermacher developed hermeneutics into a general theory of interpretation, while Dilthey placed hermeneutics within the methodology of the human sciences. In the twentieth century, Heidegger understood understanding as a fundamental mode of Dasein’s being, thereby transforming hermeneutics from a methodological issue into an ontological one. Gadamer further discussed language, tradition, effective history, and the fusion of horizons, emphasizing that understanding always takes place within historical situatedness, dialogue, and tradition. Finally, the course discusses the diverse developments of hermeneutics in contemporary philosophy, including Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of text, symbol, metaphor, and narrative; Habermas’s critique of hermeneutics and his concern with ideology; and the dialogue between hermeneutics and critical theory, phenomenology, philosophy of language, and theology. The course attends to the significance of philosophical hermeneutics for theological studies and discusses its theological relevance within a philosophical framework. Teaching Mode: Lecture, Guided Reading and Discussion Assessment Mode: Oral Examination |
| College Organization Structure | Holy Spirit Institute of Philosophy |
| Course Tuition Fee | 1380.00 |
| Course Combination | There is no records at the moment. |
