Recovering Paul Ricoeur's Intervention in the Gadamer-Habermas Debate
ABSTRACT: In this paper I will examine a contemporary response to an important debate in the "science" of hermeneutics, along with some cross-cultural implications. I discuss Paul Ricoeur's intervention in the debate between Gadamer and Habermas concerning the proper task of hermeneutics as a mode of philosophical interrogation in the late 20th century. The confrontation between Gadamer and Habermas turns on the assessment of tradition and the place of language within it; the hermeneutical stance takes a positive stance, while ideologiekritik views tradition with a hooded-brow of suspicion, tantamount to "seeing tradition as merely the systematically distorted expression
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He thus distanced himself from hermeneutics in terms of no longer believing that classical (i.e. mid-19th to early 20th centuries) hermeneutics held out the key to its own problem or presupposition. The problem is explained in the following way. A prior understanding always grounds interpretation; but the understanding itself is constituted by fore-structures. ("The entity which is held in our fore-having — for instance, the hammer — is proximally ready-to-hand as equipment."). Thus understanding already presupposes in its fore-structures what interpretation is to provide. One has to acknowledge the grip of this circle while also working through to disclose the fore-structures, the presuppositions and so on, in the genuine apprehension of Dasein's encounter with Being and its own …show more content…
Prejudices are made transparent for what they are, and their limitations are thereby undermined. The walls of traditional framework need not keep the world closed off from hermeneutical access, in understanding and in reflection. This is what Gadamer calls "the happening of tradition" which admits to a kind of hermeneutic self-reflection on the part of language in dialogue with (the author-ity) of tradition; and here one will notice that the horizons of language and tradition are seen to converge, the world of the reader and the world of the text merge into one another. (ibid). Gadamer characterised this non-analytic coming-together as the "fusion of horizons" TM: 273ff, 337, 358); and later commentators have extended the metaphor to signal the meeting of disparate cultures, trans-tradition comparisons, and even the synthesis of the arts of different cultures (as in the "fusion" of world
implacability of the natural world, the impartial perfection ofscience, the heartbreak of history. The narrative is permeated with insights about language itself, its power to distort and destroy meaning, and to restore it again to those with stalwart hearts.
Deep-seated in these practices is added universal investigative and enquiring of acquainted conflicts between philosophy and the art of speaking and/or effective writing. Most often we see the figurative and rhetorical elements of a text as purely complementary and marginal to the basic reasoning of its debate, closer exploration often exposes that metaphor and rhetoric play an important role in the readers understanding of a piece of literary art. Usually the figural and metaphorical foundations strongly back or it can destabilize the reasoning of the texts. Deconstruction however does not indicate that all works are meaningless, but rather that they are spilling over with numerous and sometimes contradictory meanings. Derrida, having his roots in philosophy brings up the question, “what is the meaning of the meaning?”
The narrative of Vertigo tells a plot twisted story of mystery and suspense as the main character “Scottie” (James Stuart), a retired detective suffer...
Peterson, Michael - Hasker, Reichenbach and Basinger. Philosophy of Religion - Selected Readings, Fourth Edition. 2010. Oxford University Press, NY.
A drought means there is not enough precipitation. It is a period of unusually dry weather that keeps on long enough to cause environment or economic problems which result in a water shortage and destroy vegetation, animals and crops. Drought can happen even if there is some rainfall. Bushfires and heat waves will occur because of drought. (Francesca.F, 2000)
The birth rate among teens in the United States has declined 9% from 2009 to 2010, a historic low among all racial and ethnic groups, with the least being born in 2010; and in 2011 the number of babies born to adolescents aged 15-19 years of age was 329,797 (“Birth Rates for U.S.”, 2012). Although the decline in unwanted and unplanned teen births is on the rise the United States continues to be among the highest of industrialized countries facing this problem. This is a prevailing social concern because of the health risks to these young mothers as well as their babies. Teens at higher risk of becoming pregnant are raised at or below the poverty level by single parents; live in environments that cause high levels of stress (i.e., divorce, sexual psychological and physical abuse); are influenced by peers or family members that are sexually active; and lack parental guidance that would direct them to be responsible and self-controlled.
The teen pregnancy rate in the United States is four times higher than the developed European countries, such as France and Germany.3 Latina and black women make up the largest part of teen pregnancy because these groups have highly disproportionate cases of births at the early ages of 13 to 18 years old.3 These groups also face the highest rates of low socioeconomic status and low levels of education which together aggravate the pregnancy problem. An approximated 60% of females live in poverty at the time of childbearing and lack the knowledge or resources to survive economically or prevent yet another pregnancy.2 ...
The Annie E. Casey Foundation. “The Facts of Teen Pregnancy: An Overview.” Teens and Sex.
Sarah* (name changed) is a four-year-old child who was removed from her home in Chicago, Illinois, by Child Protective Services at the age of three after neighbors called the police for hearing screaming from the house. Sarah’s mother used drugs and alcohol throughout her pregnancy, so she was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Once Sarah was born, her mother continued her drug use instead of treating her addiction. Because of her FAS, Sarah developed differently than other children her age. She is much smaller than the average four-year-old child, and has typical facial features of a child with FAS, including a thin upper lip, flat philtrum, and small eyes. Because of the circumstances under which Child Protective Services found Sarah, they suspect she was neglected for the majority of her life.
The “hermeneutic activity –the practice of close reading” (373) is what Love evaluates next. The practice of close reading became the framework of hermeneutics in the early 20th century and has been the foundation of text evaluation since then, no matter what different literary approaches and cultural changes were present, since “the richness of texts continues to serve as a carrier for an allegedly superannuated humanism”(373). Her own assertion regarding the interpretation of texts can be interpreted in sev...
Teenage pregnancy is an epidemic that has been highly debated and publicized during the past few decades. Although it has been statistically proven to be on the decline since the 1950s, it is still a major discussion and topic of concern especially for the health of the unborn child and the mother. The aspect of teenage pregnancy might have been approved and a regular occurrence in the 1950s, but now with the multitude of contraceptives and preventative methods it is heavily frowned upon.
“The National Campaign”. 2012. Prevention of Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Date Accessed: February 6th 2014. Website Available: http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/
. Quoted in Pauline Anderson, “Distress Combined With Poverty Increases Risk for Teen Pregnancy,” Medscape Medical News online, July 31, 2009, www.medscape.com.
One of the United States’ current social problems and most discussed “hot topics” is adolescent pregnancy, otherwise known as teenage pregnancy. The majorities of teenage pregnancies are unplanned and lead to serious consequences for the parents and even possibly the child. It is important that today’s teens are well aware of the repercussions of teenage pregnancy because it is a very serious matter that can eventually lead to lifelong consequences. Even though teenage pregnancies have decreased in the past years, it is still a very prevalent issue in the United States and contributes to other current social problems such as poverty and poor education. The current cycle starts with teenage pregnancy and then leads to poor education, which leads to not many job opportunities, which leads to poverty, which can then lead to many other issues of the family like abuse and mental issues. Teenage pregnancy is so important that it is even considered one of the top six priorities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2012). Through the studies of risk factors and data regarding teenage pregnancy, trends arise that exemplify social issues and problems that can subsequently be dealt with by various methods presented by health professionals.
Over the past century, the United States has experienced many extreme droughts, all ranging in severity. A drought is defined as the deficiency of precipitation over a period of time which leads to a shortage of water, impacting the community, agriculture, economy, and much more. The intensity of a drought varies depending on the region and its average amount of rainfall. For example, if a region that typically receives rain every day were to go a month without it, they would struggle much more than a region that typically only gets rain four months out of the year. Because of this, there are multiple factors that weigh in on characterizing the drought and its intensity as well as its consequences, both short term and long term, on that specific region. There are several different droughts that have occurred in America that depict the severity of the drought itself and its effects on the region.