Hermeneutics: the art of understanding a text.

Transcription by R. Doran, revised 27 August 2011

45700DTEL60 / A 457

Hermeneutics: the art of understanding a text

1 Erklären, Verstehen

   α Difference between Natur- & Geisteswissenschaften

      object of NW is not constituted by a human act of meaning; its intelligibility has to be discovered by empirical method à law

      object of GW is totally, principally, constituted by human acts of meaning; it already is on the level of meaning; tribunal and prison à sound & fury [i.e., without considering meaning]

   β the author of the text understood but did not explain

      difference between commonsense and systematic expression of understanding

            author was not composing a treatise, was expressing an element from a commonsense accumulation of insights

      difference between: Socrates – set of terms, each related to others, bear[?] all suppositions, consequences; Athenians – everyday language, set of insights, know how/what to say, do in any of set of familiar situations

      difference between Thales – intellect dominant, every act engagé, but to truth only; milkmaid – intellect part of whole person,  ? philosophic[?]

   γ the interpreter of the text understands but does not explain

      true on a first level: 1 understands the thing (Urphänomen by understanding words)

                                      2 understands the words [when a block]

                                      3 understands the author [how he could think that about the thing]

      untrue on a higher level: literal and figurative sense, genera litteraria, development of language, literature, ideas – later Socrates, not Athenians; not one personally engaged in anything but truth – later Thales, not milkmaid

            [margin, explaining movement from ‘true on a first level’ to ‘not true on a higher level’:] die Wendung zur Idee; Idea of dogmatic theol., Idea of ??

[page 2]

Hermeneutica – ars intelligendi textum, documentum

1 Ex genere [?] pertinet ad scientias non naturales sed humanas – NW, GW

   α Quorum differentia in eo est quod intelligibilitas obiecti in NW non constituitur per actum humanum intentionale; intelligibilitas obiecti in GW constituitur per actum humanum intentionale.

            quid ignis, electricitas, color[?], lux, vita – non est intentio humana

            quid sensus vocabuli, tribunal, lex, ? – est intentio humana

   β Unde problema hermeneuticum exsistit non per se sed per accidens. Urphänomen est intelligere non verba, sed per verba; sed rem dictam mediantibus verbis; per se expressio est transparens, sensus est obvius.

       Oritur problema hermeneuticum tantum per accidens quatenus ex hac vel illa causa verba non intelligimus.

       Unde radicalis differentia a scientia naturali quae per observ. ?? procedunt ut intelligibilitatem rei apprehendere incipiant.

   γ Quare maximi momenti est prae-intelligentia, Vorverständnis, illa intelligentia rerum humanarum quam quis iam habet, quae facit ut verba intelligere ? sed per verba statim intelligimus, quae propter defectum occasionalem recursum ad actum hermeneuticum cogit.

[page 3]

   δ Sicut oritur praeintelligentia, ita processu hermeneutico fundamentali perficitur, scilicet, processus est non erklären sed verstehen, non intelligentiae scientificae sed vulgaris;

      quae differunt:

            quoad obiectum, Socrates & Athenienses: [S] tendit in systema logicum, [A] vult habitum unde in singulis situationibus cognoscitur quid dicendum/ agendum/ faciendum;

            quoad subiectum: Thales et puella; [T] dominatur pars hominis, caetera subordinantur, ? tendit in totum verum, omnem quidditatem; [p] omnis pars subordinatur toti, restringuntur quaestiones ad utilitatem vitae dram. pract.;

            quoad experientiam: quaestione bene definita secundum systema, admiratione, block[?] tension; experientia a quolibet quandolibet repeti potest, experientia est ipsa mea[?] generis intellectualis, non repetitur a me – iam didici, haud eadem est in alio.

   ε Wirkungsgeschichte: ipse textus iam pridem in mentes influit, constituit ipsam praeintelligentiam.

      Iam vero ipsa praeintelligentia est traditionalis, et processus hermeneuticus aut est traditionis conservatio aut eius reiectio.

      Prae-intelligentia est traditionalis – filii socialistarum sunt socialistae, filii Catholicorum sunt Catholici, filii Protestantium sut Protestantes, etc.

      Processus hermeneuticus est traditionis conservatio (= creation), inauthenticitatis correctio

            sunt nunc obstacula quae antea non obsta, sunt nunc quaestiones quae antea non ?

      Processus hermeneuticus est traditionis reiectio, reconstruct historia – omnis motus revolutionarius protestantes, liberales, modernistae.