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Western Philosophy
20th-century philosophy
Name
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Birth February 11, 1900
Marburg, Germany
Death March 13, 2002 (aged 102)
Heidelberg, Germany
School/tradition Continental philosophy
Hermeneutics
Main interests Metaphysics · Epistemology
Language · Ontology · Aesthetics
Notable ideas Philosophical hermeneutics
"Practical philosophy"
"All products of a tradition stand within that tradition"
Language as unity of the infinite and finite
Influenced by Plato · Aristotle · Kant · Hegel
Kierkegaard · Schleiermacher
Dilthey · Husserl · Heidegger
Jaspers
Influenced Rorty · Gianni Vattimo · Ricoeur

Hans-Georg Gadamer (IPA: [ˈgaːdamɐ]; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 magnum opus, Truth and Method (Wahrheit und Methode). Western philosophy is a term that refers to philosophical thinking in the Western or Occidental world, as distinct from Eastern or Oriental philosophies See also [[Analytic philosophy]] and [[Continental philosophy]] The 20th century brought with it upheavals that produced a series of conflicting developments within Philosophy Events 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Marburg is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2006 over 140000 people live within the city's area Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Continental philosophy, in contemporary usage refers to a set of traditions of 19th and 20th century philosophy from mainland Europe Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of Theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them In Philosophy, ontology (from the Greek, genitive: of being (part Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of Theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts The division of philosophy into a practical and a theoretical discipline has its origin in Aristotle 's natural philosophy and moral philosophy categories Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (ˈsœːɐn ˈkʰiɐ̯kəˌɡ̊ɒˀ in Danish Anglicized as;) Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (ˈʃlaɪɐmaxɐ ( November 21, 1768 &ndash February 12, 1834) was a German theologian Wilhelm Dilthey (ˈdɪltaɪ November 19, 1833 &ndash October 1, 1911) was a German Historian, Psychologist Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (ˈhʊsɛrl April 8 1859 – April 26 1938) was a philosopher, known as the father of Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher Karl Theodor Jaspers ( February 23, 1883 – February 26, 1969) was a German Psychiatrist and Philosopher who Richard McKay Rorty (October 4 1931 - June 8 2007 was an American Philosopher. Gianteresio Vattimo, also known as Gianni Vattimo (born January 4, 1936) is an internationally recognized Italian Author, Philosopher Paul Ricœur (born February 27, 1913 in Valence France; died May 20, 2005 in Chatenay Malabry, France was a Events 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Magnum opus (sometimes Opus magnum, plural magna opera) from the Latin meaning great work, refers to the best the greatest Truth and Method ( Wahrheit und Methode) is the major philosophical work by Hans-Georg Gadamer, first published in 1960

Contents

Life

Gadamer was born in Marburg, Hesse-Nassau, as the son of a pharmaceutical chemist who later also served as the rector of the university there. Marburg is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district The Province of Hesse-Nassau (Provinz Hessen-Nassau was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868-1918 then a province of the Free State of Prussia A chemist is a Scientist trained in the Science of Chemistry. The word rector ("ruler" from the Latin regere and Rector meaning "Teacher" In Latin has a number of different meanings but all of them indicate an academic A university is an institution of Higher education and Research, which grants Academic degrees in a variety of subjects Gadamer resisted his father's urging to take up the natural sciences and grew more and more interested in the humanities. In Science, the term natural science refers to a naturalistic approach to the study of the Universe, which is understood as obeying rules or law of The humanities are academic disciplines which study the Human condition, using methods that are primarily Analytic, Critical, or Speculative He grew up and studied in Breslau under Richard Hönigswald, but soon moved back to Marburg to study with the Neo-Kantian philosophers Paul Natorp and Nicolai Hartmann. Wrocław (Breslau Vratislav Vratislavia or Wratislavia Yiddish: ברעסלוי) is the chief City of the historical region of Lower Silesia Richard Hönigswald (b 18 July 1875 in Magyar-Óvár in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, also known as Ungarisch-Altenburg, the present Neo-Kantianism means a revived or modified type of Philosophy along the lines of that laid down by Immanuel Kant in the Eighteenth century or (sometimes Paul Gerhard Natorp ( 24 January 1854 - 17 August 1924) was a German Neo-Kantian philosopher and educationalist of the Marburg Nicolai Hartmann (Niklāvs Hartmanis February 20, 1882 in Riga, Latvia – October 9, 1950) was a German He defended his dissertation in 1922. A dissertation (also called thesis or disquisition) is a document that presents the author's Research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature

Shortly thereafter, Gadamer visited Freiburg and began studying with Martin Heidegger, who was then a promising young scholar who had not yet received a professorship. Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher He thus became one of a group of students such as Leo Strauss, Karl Löwith, and Hannah Arendt. Leo Strauss (September 20 1899 &ndash October 18 1973 was a German -born Jewish-American political philosopher who specialized in the study of classical Karl Löwith ( January 9, 1897 in Munich – May 26, 1973 in Heidelberg) was a German - Jewish Philosopher He and Heidegger became close, and when Heidegger received a position at Marburg, Gadamer followed him there. Marburg is a city in Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district It was Heidegger's influence that gave Gadamer's thought its distinctive cast and led him away from the earlier neo-Kantian influences of Natorp and Hartmann.

Gadamer habilitated in 1929 and spent most of the early 1930s lecturing in Marburg. Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a person can achieve by their own pursuit in certain European and Asian countries Unlike Heidegger, Gadamer was strongly anti-Nazi, although he was not politically active during the Third Reich. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers He did not receive a paid position during the Nazi years and never entered the Party; only towards the end of the War did he receive an appointment at Leipzig. This sort of fix restores section edit linkpoints to where they belong In 1946, he was found by the American occupation forces to be untainted by Nazism and named rector of the university. Communist East Germany was no more to Gadamer's liking than the Third Reich, and he left for West Germany, accepting first a position in Frankfurt am Main and then the succession of Karl Jaspers in Heidelberg in 1949. Karl Theodor Jaspers ( February 23, 1883 – February 26, 1969) was a German Psychiatrist and Philosopher who Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2006 over 140000 people live within the city's area He remained in this position, as emeritus, until his death in 2002 at the age of 102.

It was during this time that he completed his magnum opus Truth and Method (in 1960) and engaged in his famous debate with Jürgen Habermas over the possibility of transcending history and culture in order to find a truly objective position from which to criticize society. Jürgen Habermas (ˈjʏʁgən ˈhaːbɐmaːs born June 18, 1929 is a German Philosopher and Sociologist in the tradition of The debate was inconclusive, but marked the beginning of warm relations between the two men. It was Gadamer who secured Habermas's first professorship in Heidelberg. Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2006 over 140000 people live within the city's area Another attempt to engage Jacques Derrida proved less enlightening because the two thinkers had so little in common. After Gadamer's death, Derrida called their failure to find common ground one of the worst debacles of his life and expressed, in the main obituary for Gadamer, his great personal and philosophical respect.

In 1968, he invited Tomonobu Imamichi for lectures at Heidelberg, but their relationship became very cool after Imamichi pointed out that Heidegger had taken his concept of Dasein out of Okakura Kakuzo's concept of das-in-dem-Welt-sein (to be in the being of the world) expressed in The Book of Tea, which Imamichi's teacher had offered to Heidegger in 1919, after having followed lessons with him the year before. is a Japanese philosopher, who studies Chinese philosophy and has taught in Europe (Paris and Germany as well as in Japan (he is also emeritus professor of the University of Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher Heideggerian terminology Dasein is a German word famously used by Martin Heidegger in his Magnum opus Being Okakura Kakuzō (岡倉覚三 February 14, 1862 - September 2, 1913; also known as 岡倉 天心 Okakura Tenshin) was a Japanese The Book of Tea was written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century [1] Imamichi and Gadamer renewed contact four years later during an international congress. [1]

Work

Gadamer's philosophical project, as explained in Truth and Method, was to elaborate on the concept of "philosophical hermeneutics", which Heidegger initiated but never dealt with at length. Truth and Method ( Wahrheit und Methode) is the major philosophical work by Hans-Georg Gadamer, first published in 1960 Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of Theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts Gadamer's goal was to uncover the nature of human understanding. In the book Gadamer argued that "truth" and "method" were at odds with one another. He was critical of two approaches to the human sciences (Geisteswissenschaften). On the one hand, he was critical of modern approaches to humanities that modeled themselves on the natural sciences (and thus on rigorous scientific methods). On the other hand, he took issue with the traditional German approach to the humanities, represented for instance by Friedrich Schleiermacher and Wilhelm Dilthey, which believed that correctly interpreting a text meant recovering the original intention of the author who wrote it. Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (ˈʃlaɪɐmaxɐ ( November 21, 1768 &ndash February 12, 1834) was a German theologian Wilhelm Dilthey (ˈdɪltaɪ November 19, 1833 &ndash October 1, 1911) was a German Historian, Psychologist

In contrast to both of these positions, Gadamer argued that people have a 'historically affected consciousness' (wirkungsgeschichtliches Bewußtsein) and that they are embedded in the particular history and culture that shaped them. Thus interpreting a text involves a Fusion of horizons where the scholar finds the ways that the text's history articulates with their own background. " Fusion of horizons " is a Dialectical concept which results from the rejection of two alternatives objectivism, whereby the objectification of the other Truth and Method is not meant to be a programmatic statement about a new 'hermeneutic' method of interpreting texts. Gadamer intended Truth and Method to be a description of what we always do when we interpret things (even if we do not know it): ‘My real concern was and is philosophic: not what we do or what we ought to do, but what happens to us over and above our wanting and doing’ (Truth and Method (2nd edn Sheed and Ward, London 1989) xxviii).

Truth and Method was published twice in English, and the revised edition is now considered authoritative. The German-language edition of Gadamer's Collected Works includes a volume in which Gadamer elaborates his argument and discusses the critical response to the book. Finally, Gadamer's essay on Celan (entitled "Who Am I and Who Are You?") is considered by many -- including Heidegger and Gadamer himself -- as a "second volume" or continuation of the argument in Truth and Method. Paul Celan (ˈpaʊl tseˈlaːn November 23, 1920 – approximately April 20, 1970) was the most frequently used Pseudonym of Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher

Gadamer also added philosophical substance to the notion of human health. In 'The Enigma of Health' Gadamer explored what it means to heal, as a patient and a provider. In this work the practice and art of medicine are thoroughly examined, as is the inevitability of any cure.

In addition to his work in hermeneutics, Gadamer is also well known for a long list of publications on Greek philosophy. Indeed, while Truth and Method became central to his later career, much of Gadamer's early life centered around studying the classics. His work on Plato, for instance, is considered by some to be as important as his work on hermeneutics.

Bibliography

Primary

Secondary

Academic Genealogy
Notable teachers Notable students
Martin Heidegger Andrés Ortíz-Osés

Gianni Vattimo

References

  1. ^ a b Tomonubu Imamichi, In Search of Wisdom. Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher Andrés Ortiz-Osés ( Tardienta, 1943) is a Spanish Philosopher. Gianteresio Vattimo, also known as Gianni Vattimo (born January 4, 1936) is an internationally recognized Italian Author, Philosopher One Philosopher's Journey, Tokyo, International House of Japan, 2004 (quoted by Anne Fagot-Largeau at her lesson at the College of France on 7 December 2006)

See also

External links

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