The Problem of Objectivity in Gadamer s Hermeneutics in Light of McDowell s Empiricism

This book reassesses Gadamer’s hermeneutics by bringing it into a dialogue with John McDowell’s minimal empiricism. It employs the resources of McDowell’s minimal empiricism to address the transcendental and ontological presuppositions for objective experience and understanding, while retaining Gadamer’s emphasis on the historicity of understanding. By means of the dialogue with McDowell, the book develops a hermeneutical conception of objectivity and perceptual experience, which also entails reinterpretations of Gadamer’s notions of tradition, practical wisdom and meaning. The book explores the philosophical space beyond the analytic-Continental divide and demonstrates that hermeneutics is not limited to a reflection on understanding as it is practiced in the human sciences, but can be revived as a distinct and cogent philosophical approach with a transcendental and ontological dimension. tions that will be of interest to a wide audience.

Morten S. Thaning, PhD, is Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Copenhagen Business School. He has published work on Ancient Philosophy, Heidegger, Gadamer, Foucault and John McDowell. He is currently engaged in the research project "Selfunderstanding and Selfalienation – Existential Hermeneutics and Psychopathology", funded by the Velux Foundation.