Editing Hermeneutics (section)

== Applications ==
=== Archaeology ===
In [[archaeology]], hermeneutics means the interpretation and understanding of material through analysis of possible meanings and social uses.

Proponents argue that interpretation of artifacts is unavoidably hermeneutic because we cannot know for certain the meaning behind them. We can only apply modern values when interpreting. This is most commonly seen in [[stone tool]]s, where descriptions such as "scraper" can be highly subjective and actually unproven until the development of [[microwear analysis]] some thirty years ago.

Opponents argue that a hermeneutic approach is too [[Relativism|relativist]] and that their own interpretations are based on [[Common sense|common-sense]] evaluation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Knight |first1=Edward W.|title=Iconographic Method in New World Prehistory|date= 2013|publisher=Cambridge Press|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5IRuDi7UW7gC&pg=PA15&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false 15–18]|isbn=9781107022638}}</ref>

=== Architecture ===
There are several traditions of architectural scholarship that draw upon the hermeneutics of [[Heidegger]] and [[Gadamer]], such as [[Christian Norberg-Schulz]], and [[Nader El-Bizri]] in the circles of [[Phenomenology (architecture)|phenomenology]]. Lindsay Jones examines the way architecture is received and how that reception changes with time and context (e.g., how a building is interpreted by critics, users, and historians).<ref>Jones, L. 2000. ''The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture: Experience, Interpretation, Comparison'', p. 263;''Volume Two: Hermeneutical Calisthenics: A Morphology of Ritual-Architectural Priorities'', Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press</ref> [[Dalibor Vesely]] situates hermeneutics within a critique of the application of overly scientific thinking to architecture.<ref>Vesely, D. 2004. ''Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation: The Question of Creativity in the Shadow of Production'', Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.</ref> This tradition fits within a critique of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]<ref>Perez-Gomez, A. 1985. ''Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science'', Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.</ref> and has also informed design-studio teaching. [[Adrian Snodgrass]] sees the study of history and Asian cultures by architects as a hermeneutical encounter with otherness.<ref>Snodgrass, A., and Coyne, R. 2006. ''Interpretation in Architecture: Design as a Way of Thinking'', London: Routledge, pp. 165–180.</ref> He also deploys arguments from hermeneutics to explain design as a process of interpretation.<ref>Snodgrass, A., and Coyne, R. 2006. ''Interpretation in Architecture: Design as a Way of Thinking'', London: Routledge, pp. 29–55</ref> Along with [[Richard Coyne]], he extends the argument to the nature of architectural education and design.<ref>Snodgrass, A.B., and Coyne, R.D. 1992. "Models, Metaphors and the Hermeneutics of Designing." ''Design Issues'', 9(1): 56 74.</ref>

=== Education ===

Hermeneutics motivates a broad range of applications in educational theory. The connection between hermeneutics and education has deep historical roots. The ancient Greeks gave the interpretation of poetry a central place in educational practice, as indicated by Dilthey: "systematic exegesis (''hermeneia'') of the poets developed out of the demands of the educational system."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dilthey |first1=W. |title=The rise of hermeneutics |journal=New Literary History |volume=3 |page=234}}</ref> 

Gadamer more recently wrote on the topic of education,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gadamer |first1=Hans-Georg |title=Hans-Georg Gadamer on education, poetry, and history: Applied hermeneutics |date=1992 |publisher=SUNY Press |location=Albany}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gadamer |first1=Hans-Georg |title=Education is self-education |journal=Journal of Philosophy of Education |date=2001 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=529–538|doi=10.1111/1467-9752.00243 }}</ref> and more recent treatments of educational issues across various hermeneutical approaches are to be found in Fairfield<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fairfield |first1=Paul |title=Education, Dialogue and Hermeneutics |date=2011 |publisher=Continuum |location=New York}}</ref> and Gallagher.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gallagher |first1=Shaun |title=Hermeneutics and Education |date=1992 |publisher=SUNY |location=Albany}}</ref>

=== Environment ===
[[Environmental hermeneutics]] applies hermeneutics to environmental issues conceived broadly to subjects including "[[nature]]" and "[[wilderness]]" (both terms are matters of hermeneutical contention), landscapes, ecosystems, built environments (where it overlaps architectural hermeneutics<ref>{{cite book|last=Mugerauer|first=Robert|title=Interpreting Environments|year=1995|publisher=University of Texas Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mugerauer|first=Robert|title=Interpretations on Behalf of Place|year=1994|publisher=SUNY Press}}</ref> ), inter-species relationships, the relationship of the body to the world, and more.

=== International relations ===
Insofar as hermeneutics is a basis of both [[critical theory]] and [[constitutive theory]] (both of which have made important inroads into the [[Postpositivism|postpositivist]] branch of [[international relations theory]] and [[political science]]), it has been applied to international relations.

[[Steve Smith (academic)|Steve Smith]] refers to hermeneutics as the principal way of grounding foundationalist yet postpositivist theory of [[international relations]].

Radical [[postmodernism]] is an example of a postpositivist anti-foundationalist [[paradigm]] of international relations.<ref>Østerud, Ø., "Antinomies of Postmodernism in International Studies", ''[[Journal of Peace Research]]'', Vol. 33, No. 4 (Nov., 1996), pp. 385–390.</ref>

=== Law ===
{{Main|Jurisprudence|Law}}
Some scholars argue that law and theology are particular forms of hermeneutics because of their need to interpret legal tradition or scriptural texts. Moreover, the problem of interpretation has been central to [[Law#Legal theory|legal theory]] since at least the 11th&nbsp;century.

In the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Italian Renaissance]], the schools of ''[[glossator]]es'', ''commentatores'', and ''usus modernus'' distinguished themselves by their approach to the interpretation of "laws" (mainly [[Justinian]]'s [[Corpus Juris Civilis]]). The [[University of Bologna]] gave birth to a "legal Renaissance" in the 11th&nbsp;century, when the Corpus Juris Civilis was rediscovered and systematically studied by men such as [[Irnerius]] and [[Decretum Gratiani#Author|Johannes Gratian]]. It was an interpretative Renaissance. Subsequently, these were fully developed by [[Thomas Aquinas]] and [[Alberico Gentili]].

Since then, interpretation has always been at the center of legal thought. [[Friedrich Carl von Savigny]] and [[Emilio Betti]], among others, made significant contributions to general hermeneutics. [[Interpretivism (legal)|Legal interpretivism]], most famously [[Ronald Dworkin]]'s, may be seen as a branch of philosophical hermeneutics.

=== Phenomenology ===
{{Main|Phenomenology (philosophy)|Hermeneutic phenomenology}}
In [[qualitative research]], the beginnings of [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]] stem from German philosopher and researcher [[Edmund Husserl]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Laverty|first=Susann M.|date=2003|title=Hermeneutic Phenomenology and Phenomenology: A Comparison of Historical and Methodological Considerations|journal=International Journal of Qualitative Methods|volume=2|issue=3|pages=21–35|doi=10.1177/160940690300200303|issn=1609-4069|doi-access=free}}</ref> In his early days, Husserl studied mathematics, but over time his disinterest with empirical methods led him to philosophy and eventually phenomenology. Husserl's phenomenology inquires on the specifics of a certain experience or experiences and attempts to unfold the meaning of experience in everyday life.<ref name=":02" /> Phenomenology started as philosophy and then developed into methodology over time. American researcher [[Don Ihde]] contributed to phenomenological research methodology through what he described as experimental phenomenology: "Phenomenology, in the first instance, is like an investigative science, an essential component of which is an experiment."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Ihde, Don.|title=Experimental phenomenology : an introduction|date=1986|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=0-88706-199-0|oclc=769696114}}</ref> His work contributed heavily to the implementation of phenomenology as a methodology.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Ihde|first=Don|title=Hermeneutic phenomenology: The philosopher of Paul Ricoeur|publisher=Northwestern University Press|year=1971|location=Evanston, Illinois}}</ref>

The beginnings of hermeneutic phenomenology stem from a German researcher and student of Husserl, [[Martin Heidegger]].<ref name=":02" /> Both researchers attempted to pull out the lived experiences of others through philosophical concepts, but Heidegger's main difference from Husserl was his belief that consciousness was not separate from the world but a formation of who we are as living individuals.<ref name=":02" /> Hermeneutic phenomenology stresses that every event or encounter involves some type of interpretation from an individual's background, and that we cannot separate this from an individual's development through life.<ref name=":02" /> Ihde also focuses on hermeneutic phenomenology within his early work, and draws connections between Husserl and French philosopher [[Paul Ricœur|Paul Ricoeur]]'s work in the field.<ref name=":2" /> Ricoeur focuses on the importance of symbols and linguistics within hermeneutic phenomenology.<ref name=":2" /> Overall, hermeneutic phenomenological research focuses on historical meanings and experiences, and their developmental and social effects on individuals.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hatch, J. Amos.|title=Doing qualitative research in education settings|date=2002|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=0-7914-5503-3|oclc=300225124}}</ref>

=== Political philosophy ===
Italian philosopher [[Gianni Vattimo]] and Spanish philosopher [[Santiago Zabala]] in their book ''[[Hermeneutic Communism]]'', when discussing contemporary capitalist regimes, stated that, "A politics of descriptions does not impose power in order to dominate as a philosophy; rather, it is functional for the continued existence of a society of dominion, which pursues truth in the form of imposition (violence), conservation (realism), and triumph (history)."<ref>Gianni Vattimo and Santiago Zabala. ''Hermeneutic Communism: From Heidegger to Marx'' Columbia University Press. 2011, p. 12.</ref>

Vattimo and Zabala also stated that they view [[Epistemological anarchism|interpretation as anarchy]] and affirmed that "existence is interpretation" and that "hermeneutics is weak thought."

=== Psychoanalysis ===
{{see also|Freud and Philosophy}}
Psychoanalysts have made ample use of hermeneutics since [[Sigmund Freud]] first gave birth to their discipline. In 1900 Freud wrote that the title he chose for ''[[The Interpretation of Dreams]]'' "makes plain which of the traditional approaches to the problem of dreams I am inclined to follow...[''i.e.''] 'interpreting' a dream implies assigning a 'meaning' to it."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Interpretation of Dreams|last=Freud|first=Sigmund|publisher=The Hogarth Press|year=1900|volume=Standard Edition, Vols. IV and V|location=London|pages=96}}</ref>

The French psychoanalyst [[Jacques Lacan]] later extended Freudian hermeneutics into other psychical realms. His early work from the 1930s–1950s is particularly influenced by Heidegger, and [[Maurice Merleau-Ponty]]'s hermeneutical phenomenology.

=== Psychology and cognitive science ===
{{See also|Postcognitivism}}

[[Psychologist]]s and [[Cognitive science]] have recently become interested in hermeneutics, especially as an alternative to [[Cognitivism (psychology)|cognitivism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gallagher |first1=Shaun |title=Hermeneutics and the cognitive sciences |journal=Journal of Consciousness Studies |date=2004 |volume=11 |issue=10–11 |pages=162–174}}</ref>

[[Hubert Dreyfus]]'s critique of conventional [[artificial intelligence]] has been influential among psychologists who are interested in hermeneutic approaches to meaning and interpretation, as discussed by philosophers such as [[Martin Heidegger]] (cf. [[Embodied cognition]]) and [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] (cf. [[Discursive psychology]]).

Hermeneutics is also influential in [[humanistic psychology]].<ref name=Rennie>{{Cite journal|title= Hermeneutics and Humanistic Psychology|author= David L. Rennie |journal = The Humanistic Psychologist |year=2007 |volume=35|issue=1 |url= http://www.apa.org/divisions/div32/pdfs/hermeneutics.pdf|access-date= 2009-07-07|archive-date=June 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608131702/http://www.apa.org/divisions/div32/pdfs/hermeneutics.pdf|doi=10.1080/08873260709336693|s2cid=143147583}}</ref>

=== Religion and theology ===
{{See also|Exegesis|Biblical hermeneutics|Talmudical hermeneutics|Quranic hermeneutics|Progressive illumination|Hermeneutics of the Second Vatican Council}}
The understanding of a [[Theology|theological]] [[Literature|text]] depends upon the reader's particular hermeneutical viewpoint. Some theorists, such as [[Paul Ricœur]], have applied modern philosophical hermeneutics to theological texts (in Ricœur's case, the Bible).

[[Mircea Eliade]], as a hermeneutist, understands religion as 'experience of the sacred', and interprets the sacred in relation to the profane.<ref>Eliade, Mircea (1987), ''The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion'', translated by Willard R. Trask. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.</ref> The Romanian scholar underlines that the relation between the sacred and the profane is not of opposition, but of complementarity, having interpreted the profane as a [[hierophany]].<ref>Iţu, Mircia (2002), ''Introducere în hermeneutică'' (''Introduction to Hermeneutics''), Brașov: Orientul latin, p. 63.</ref> The hermeneutics of the myth is a part of the hermeneutics of religion. Myth should not be interpreted as an illusion or a lie, because there is truth in myth to be rediscovered.<ref>Iţu, Mircia (2007), ''The Hermeneutics of the Myth'', in ''Lumină lină'', number 3, New York, pp. 33–49. {{ISSN|1086-2366}}</ref> Myth is interpreted by Eliade as 'sacred history'. He introduces the concept of 'total hermeneutics'.<ref>Eliade, Mircea (1978), ''La nostalgie des origines. Méthodologie et histoire des religions'', Paris: Editions Gallimard, p.  116.</ref>

The term was notably used in 2005 by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] saying the [[Hermeneutics_of_the_Second_Vatican_Council|Second Vatican Council]] needs to be viewed through the lens of a "hermeneutic of reform" rather than a "hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Benedict XVII |title=Christmas greetings to the Members of the Roman Curia and Prelature (December 22, 2005) |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2005/december/documents/hf_ben_xvi_spe_20051222_roman-curia.html |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> In subsequent discourse, this has become a "hermeneutic of continuity" contrasted with a "hermeneutic of rupture," and applied to dissident tendencies questioning recent church teaching in general<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mirus |first1=Jeff |title=Benedict's Hermeneutic of Continuity |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/benedicts-hermeneutic-continuity/ |website=www.catholicculture.org |access-date=10 March 2025}}</ref> and the teaching of [[Pope Francis]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gabriel |first1=Pedro |title=Reading Benedict and Francis with a hermeneutic of continuity |url=https://wherepeteris.com/reading-benedict-and-francis-with-a-hermeneutic-of-continuity/ |website=Where Peter Is |date=1 June 2021}}</ref>  Following this, the term is now widely used: e.g. [[Hermeneutics_of_suspicion|of suspicion]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pope |first1=Msgr Charles |title=Pondering the Hermeneutic of Suspicion |url=https://blog.adw.org/2009/11/pondering-the-hermeneutic-of-suspicion/ |website=Community in Mission |date=25 November 2009}}</ref> of tradition and ''kenosis'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chapp |first1=Larry |title=Dignitatis Humanae: Part Two: The Hermeneutic of Kenosis {{!}} Gaudium et Spes 22 |url=https://gaudiumetspes22.com/blog/dignitatis-humanae-part-two-the-hermeneutic-of-kenosis?ht-comment-id=4000690 |website=gaudiumetspes22.com |language=en}}</ref> and of synodality.<ref>{{cite web |title=Australian Catholic Theological 2024 Conference: "Synodality" |url=https://ampjp.org.au/event/australian-catholic-theological-2024-conference-synodality/ |website=Association of Ministerial PJP's |language=en-AU}}</ref> Benedict also spoke of the "hermeneutic of the cross", "[[Hermeneutics_of_faith|of faith]]" necessary for exegesis,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Kelly |title=An Application of Pope Benedict XVI's Principle of the "Hermeneutic of Faith" to the Problem of Divine Violence |url=https://saintpaulseminary.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Anderson_Kelly_2011_.pdf |website=St Paul Seminary, University of St Thomas |access-date=10 March 2025}}</ref> "of unity",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wainright |first1=Geoffrey |title=Towards an Ecumenical Hermeneutic: How Can All Christians Read the Scriptures Together? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23579346 |journal=Gregorianum |pages=639–662 |date=1995|volume=76 |issue=4 |jstor=23579346 }}</ref> while deploring a "hermeneutic of politics".<ref>{{cite web |title=Pope: media helped spread misinterpretations of Vatican II |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/26582/pope-media-helped-spread-misinterpretations-of-vatican-ii |website=Catholic News Agency |access-date=10 March 2025 |language=en}}</ref> Francis has warned against a "hermeneutic of conspiracy".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Mary Jo |title=The "Hermeneutic of Ambiguity" |url=https://insidethevatican.com/magazine/editorial/the-hermeneutic-of-ambiguity/ |website=Inside The Vatican |date=1 November 2015}}</ref> Pope John Paul II taught a "hermeneutic of the gift".<ref>{{cite web |last1=West |first1=Christopher |title=Library : In-Vitro Fertilization and the Hermeneutic of the Gift |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8413 |website=www.catholicculture.org |access-date=10 March 2025}}</ref>

=== Safety science ===
In the field of safety science, and especially in the study of [[human reliability]], scientists have become increasingly interested in hermeneutic approaches.

It has been proposed by [[Human factors and ergonomics|ergonomist]] Donald Taylor that [[Mechanical philosophy|mechanist]] models of human behaviour will only take us so far in terms of accident reduction, and that safety science must look at the meaning of accidents for human beings.<ref name=Taylor>{{Cite journal|doi= 10.1080/00140138108924870|title= The hermeneutics of accidents and safety|author= Donald Taylor |journal = Ergonomics |year=1981 | volume=24 |issue=6| pages=487–495 }}</ref>

Other scholars in the field have attempted to create safety [[Taxonomy (general)|taxonomies]] that make use of hermeneutic concepts in terms of their categorisation of [[qualitative data]].<ref name="Wallace">{{Cite journal|doi= 10.1177/0018726703056005004|title= Applied Hermeneutics and Qualitative Safety Data|author= Wallace, B., Ross, A., & Davies, J.B. |journal = Human Relations |year=2003| volume=56 |issue=5 |pages=587–607 |citeseerx= 10.1.1.570.3135|s2cid= 5693713}}</ref>

=== Sociology ===
In [[sociology]], hermeneutics is the interpretation and understanding of social events through analysis of their meanings for the human participants in the events. It enjoyed prominence during the 1960s and 1970s, and differs from other interpretive schools of sociology in that it emphasizes both context<ref>Willis, W. J., & Jost, M. (2007). Foundations of qualitative research; Interpretive and critical approaches. London: Sage. p. 106</ref> and form within any given social behaviour.

The central principle of sociological hermeneutics is that it is only possible to know the meaning of an act or statement within the context of the discourse or [[world view]] from which it originates. Context is critical to comprehension; an action or event that carries substantial weight to one person or culture may be viewed as meaningless or entirely different to another. For example, giving the "thumbs-up" gesture is widely accepted as a sign of a job well done in the United States, while other cultures view it as an insult.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/body-speaks.aspx|title=NACADA > Resources > Clearinghouse > View Articles|website=nacada.ksu.edu}}</ref> Similarly, marking a piece of paper and putting it into a box might be considered a meaningless act unless it is put into the context of an election (the act of putting a [[Ballot|ballot paper]] into a box).

[[Friedrich Schleiermacher]], widely regarded as the father of sociological hermeneutics believed that, in order for an interpreter to understand the work of another author, they must familiarize themselves with the historical context in which the author published their thoughts. His work led to the inspiration of Heidegger's "[[hermeneutic circle]]" a frequently referenced model that claims one's understanding of individual parts of a text is based on their understanding of the whole text, while the understanding of the whole text is dependent on the understanding of each individual part.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/schleiermacher/#4 |title= Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher |last= Forster |first= Michael |publisher= Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|year= 2017 }}</ref> Hermeneutics in sociology was also heavily influenced by German philosopher [[Hans-Georg Gadamer]].<ref>Charles A. Pressler, Fabio B. Dasilva, ''Sociology and Interpretation: From Weber to Habermas'', SUNY Press, 1996, p.  168.</ref>