Herder's Hermeneutics
History, Poetry, Enlightenment

This book offers new perspectives on the historical origins and contemporary challenges of modern hermeneutics through a detailed exploration of Herder's Enlightenment philosophy.

Kristin Gjesdal (Author)

9781107533165, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 December 2019

245 pages
23 x 15 x 1.5 cm, 0.45 kg

'Herder's Hermeneutics is a rich and rewarding work that makes an invaluable contribution to both Herder scholarship and philosophical hermeneutics. As such, it is essential reading for scholars and students of hermeneutics, aesthetics, and European philosophy.' Kurt C. M. Mertel, Journal of the History of Philosophy

Through a detailed study of Herder's Enlightenment thought, especially his philosophy of literature, Kristin Gjesdal offers a new and sometimes provocative reading of the historical origins and contemporary challenges of modern hermeneutics. She shows that hermeneutic philosophy grew out of a historical, anthropological, and poetic discourse in the mid-eighteenth century and argues that, as such, it represents a rich, stimulating, and relevant engagement with the potentials and limits of human meaning and understanding. Gjesdal's study broadens our conception of hermeneutic philosophy - the issues it raises and the answers it offers - and underlines the importance of Herder's contribution to the development of this discipline. Her book will be highly valuable for students and scholars of eighteenth-century thought, especially those working in the fields of hermeneutics, aesthetics, and European philosophy.

Introduction
1. The future of philosophy
2. Poetry, history, aesthetics
3. Aesthetic value and historical understanding
4. Human nature and human science
5. Prejudice and interpretation
6. Critique and Bildung
7. Self and other
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], Philosophy: aesthetics [HPN], Western philosophy: Enlightenment [HPCD1], Literary theory [DSA]