Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics

In this historical introduction to philosophical hermeneutics, Jean Grondin discusses the major figures from Philo to Habermas, analyses conflicts among various interpretive schools, and provides a persuasive critique of Gadamer's view of hermeneutic history. Though in other ways, Gadamer's Truth and Method serves as a model for Grondin's approach.

Grondin begins with brief overviews of the pre-19th-century thinkers Philo, Origen, Augustine, Luther, Flacius, Dannhauer, Chladenius, Meier, Rambach, Ast, and Schlegel. Next, he provides more extensive treatments of such major 19th-century figures as Schleiermacher, Bockh, Droysen, and Dilthey. There are full chapters devoted to Heidegger and Gadamer, as well as shorter discussions of Betti, Habermas, and Derrida.

Because he is the first to pay close attention to pre-Romantic figures, Grondin is able to show that the history of hermeneutics cannot be viewed as a gradual, steady progression in the direction of complete universalisation. His book makes it clear that even in the early period, hermeneutic thinkers acknowledged a universal aspect in interpretation. Long before Schleiermacher, hermeneutics was philosophical and not merely practical.

In revising and correcting the standard account, Grondin's book is not merely introductory but revisionary, suitable for beginners as well as advanced students in the field.