Hermeneutics: An Introduction (DUH270)

Content

This course offers an introduction to the methodology of interpretation known as hermeneutics. It examines the different varieties of hermeneutics that have existed through time as well as the methods developed in each variety for accessing, evaluating and expressing human meaning. The course begins with the modern-day origins of hermeneutics in the sola scriptura of the Protestant Reformation before tracing its development in nineteenth-century German romanticism and the historically and epistemologically minded methodological hermeneutics of Ast, Schleiermacher and Dilthey. The course then turns attention to the twentieth-century ontological, philosophical and critical hermeneutics of Heidegger, Gadamer and Ricœur, as well as the debates in which they were engaged with their interlocutors concerning the nature, purposes and procedures of interpretation. Key themes covered include language and meaning, truth and relativism, history and historicity, politics and critique, dialogue and conversation, text and translation, being and metaphysics, self and narrative. In addressing these themes, the course places an emphasis on the links between theory and practice. Throughout each stage of the course, students will be encouraged to relate the theoretical and methodological questions raised in the literature and class discussion to their own doctoral projects.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

The student will gain knowledge of:

• The intellectual and cultural foundations of the different varieties of hermeneutics.
• The different ways of conceiving human meaning and the methods deployed by each to uncover and convey it. 
• The circular character of understanding; in particular, the negotiation between authorial intention, the meaning of the text itself, and our own traditions, concerns and commitments as interpreters.
• The ethical challenges inherent to the different varieties of interpretation, as well as their social and political consequences.

Skills

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Articulate their research methodologies by reference to the different varieties of interpretation.
• Situate their research methodologies within deeper historical structures of humanities and social sciences practice.
• Critically evaluate the ethical, social and political consequences of adopting any one methodological approach, including their own.
• Engage in academic discourse regarding the nature, purposes and procedures of humanistic inquiry.

General competence

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Reflect critically on methodological conventions found in different fields of the humanities and social sciences.

Identify and evaluate intellectual, cultural, ethical and political presuppositions behind different methodological approaches in the humanities and social sciences.

Required prerequisite knowledge

None

Exam

Coursework requirements

Active participation 75%

Active participation in lectures and seminars, at least 75% participation.

Course teacher(s)

Course coordinator:

Tyson Ashley Retz

Method of work

The course will be held as lectures and seminars with discussions. A detailed timetable will be made available to course participants in advance of the seminar.

English is the language of instruction and assessment.

Open for

This course is for PhD candidates in the Faculty of Arts and Education and the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Stavanger. PhD candidates in programs at cooperating research institutions may also participate in the course.

Course assessment

An evaluation form in accordance with the expectations in the UiS quality system will be made available to the candidates after the completion of the course. The course participants are encouraged to contribute to the course evaluation.

Literature