hermeneutics

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hermeneutics

hermeneutics the theory and practice of interpretation. During the Reformation hermeneutics came into being as a special discipline concerned with biblical criticism. The Protestant theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher expanded the discipline from one concerned with removing obstacles preventing readers from gaining the proper understanding of a text to one concerned in addition with analyzing the necessary conditions for readers coming to any understanding of a text. The philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey expanded the discipline still further by conceiving of all of the human and social sciences as hermeneutical enterprises and trying to construct a method uniquely for them, instead of borrowing one from the natural sciences. In the 20th cent. hermeneutics has been developed by the philosophers Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur.

Bibliography: See D. Hoy, The Critical Circle: Literature, History, and Philosophical Hermeneutics (1978); K. Mueller-Vollmer, ed., The Hermeneutics Reader (1985).

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hermeneutics

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Â© The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

hermeneutics the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, especially of the Bible or literary texts.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "hermeneutics." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 29 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "hermeneutics." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (November 29, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-hermeneutics.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "hermeneutics." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved November 29, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-hermeneutics.html

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