Lecture 3 - Ways In and Out of the Hermeneutic Circle

In this lecture, Professor Paul Fry examines acts of reading and interpretation by way of the theory of hermeneutics. The origins of hermeneutic thought are traced through Western literature. The mechanics of hermeneutics, including the idea of a hermeneutic circle, are explored in detail with reference to the works of Hans-George Gadamer, Martin Heidegger, and E. D. Hirsch. Particular attention is paid to the emergence of concepts of "historicism" and "historicality" and their relation to hermeneutic theory. **Reading assignment:** Gadamer, Hans-Georg. "The Elevation of the Historicality of Understanding to the Status of Hermeneutic Principle." In The Critical Tradition, pp. 721-37 **Resources:** ;[[http://oyc.yale.edu/sites/default/files/heidegger_0.pdf|Handout: Passages from Heidegger [PDF]]]