Hermeneutics

Summary

Introduction

1. Hermeneutics as the art of understanding does not yet exist in a general manner, there are instead only several forms of specific hermeneutics.

1. Only the art of understanding, not the presentation of understanding as well. This would only be a special part of the art of speaking and writing, which could only depend on the general principles.

In terms of the well-known etymology hermeneutics can be regarded as a name which is not yet fixed in a scientific manner: a) the art of presenting one's thoughts correctly, b) the art of communicating someone else's utterance to a third person, c) the art of understanding another person's utterance correctly. The scientific concept refers to the third of these as the mediator between the first and the second.

2. But also not only [understanding] of difficult passages in foreign languages. Familiarity with the object and the language are instead presupposed. If both are [presupposed] then passages become difficult only because one has also not understood the more easy passages. Only an artistic understanding continually accompanies speech and writing.

3. It has usually been thought that for the general principles one can rely on healthy common sense. But in that case one can rely on healthy feeling for the particular principles as well.

2. It is difficult adequately to situate general hermeneutics.

1. For a time it was admittedly treated as an appendix to logic, but when everything to do with application was given up in logic, this had to cease as well.