Serving as an aspiration to understand meaning/meanings behind any given phenomena,hermeneutics is a seeker. Because it is only an attempt to interpret meaning, "making sense" of a phenomena may seem difficult. Let's not forget that a phenomena is something that is, but also is not. Seeking "to discover the meaning that is not immediately manifest to description," a hermeneutic object takes the meaning "that is revealed by phenomenonological analysis, intuiting, and description" to a whole other level. (
Lanigan, 1991, Speaking and Semiology)
Among the above descriptions, Hermeneutics can be defined as the science and philosophy of interpretation. That being said, how can we use these philosophies of meaning while relating them to our ideologies and interpersonal experiences? When we study communication, we are not only concerned with how we communicate, but with the assumptions that underlie communication. In that sense, it is important to keep in mind that the world doesn't come to us. It is almost as if it is pre-processed and already involves meaning. One could also argue the complete opposite if they set out to. The basis of understanding lies within your effort and attempts to make sense of meaning. As
Nietzsche suggested, every fact is already an interpretation.
Photo by:
Skovsgaard
Hermeneutics can easily be compared to that of a repetitive spiral. In this sense, even the dialectical process itself resembles that of a hermeneutical circle. "From Heidegger’s point of view, the hermeneutical circle is not a method, rather, it is the existential character of human understanding, so, he describes the circle in terms of an existential grounding.The hermeneutical circle is the existential condition of human understanding and is an essential attribute of Dasein’s knowledge. Thus the circle of understanding is not a methodological circle, making it unnecessary for us at the end of the process of interpretation, but it describes an element of the ontological structure of understanding. (Ahmad Vaezi,
The Hermeneutical Reflections of Heidegger) Before studying hermeneutics, it is crucial to know that there are 12 Official genres. Five of these 12 types of Hermeneutics stand out amongst the others.
The first and rawest of the types is Natural Hermeneutics. These are the spontaneous, everyday, usually nonreflexive interpretations that one does when inter-subjective understanding breaks down. People use this everyday through basic misunderstanding. It all depends on our ideologies. For example, a universal symbol such as peace could mean something completely different on another planet. To say the least, if one were to "flip the bird" or drop the "f-bomb" in another on Mars, it may not have an effect on its inhabitants. Another example would be perceiving the goth style clothing to be that of devil-worshiping. Here's where hegemony comes into play. If a person refuses attempt to understand something because of that something's preconceived bias, then they will never comprehend that culture or ideology. In the same sense, portraying all feminine men as gay could be considered a deliberate misunderstanding of that culture. In these two examples of miscommunication, it is quite clear that our ideologies can play a big role in perception (which is also based upon our ideological background).
Photo by:
fluffy_steve
Normative Hermeneutics involves an understanding of texts as a "deliberate discipline" by castes such as government. Making use of the idea of the law altogether would be an example. In communication as well as other fields, we have to follow certain codes of ethics which are based on moral code. For example, our style plays a huge role in how others perceive us. If one were to walk into a corporate television station with visible piercings and tattoos, it would not be considered ethical. Again, this is based on the codes in which hegemony places people into castes. That being said, there is also sometimes no way to escape the ethics by which we are required to follow.
Scientific Hermeneutics can be used as a means of human and historical sciences. Using theories and formulas such as the
Quadratic Formula while considering the importance of America's history become important in this realm. We use science and history as a basic measuring stick to create new possibilities."Though the Frankfurt school has traditionally been empiricist, Habermas criticized the rationality of mathematics . science as effectively placing judgement in the hands of specialists, an undemocratic procedure. Man is entitled to his freedoms — from material want, from social exclusion, and from perversions that alienate him from himself. Thus his interest in Marxism, not to justify Marxist prophecies, but to rationalize and update Marx's criticisms of societies that force men to act contrary to their better natures." (
Holcombe, 2007, Hermeneutics, from textetc.com)
Philosophical Hermeneutics deals with a basic philosophy of existing in the world. In a sense,how we interpret meaning is mostly about what we are-- interpreters. As interpreters, we use philosophical sources such as religious inspiration in The Bible and
The Republic by Plato. We question these sources by a means to think critically and ultimately seek truth.
That being said, Depth Hermeneutics is that of thinking critically and questioning. As Williams states, it is "called depth because it goes below the waking consciousness: Ideology (Marx), Unconscious (Freud), Language (Lacan), and Discourse (Foucault). It is the act of thinking critically as opposed to conforming to that of hegemonic culture. The act of questioning society and the means by which you and others live may help the world overall become a more bearable place to live in. It is important to notice the reduction of liberties that some class ideologies place. Since they can be considered perversions of language, these ideologies are those that one needs to examine to gain better understanding.
The beauty of this break from blind culture is that the change which many seek in society may result. "When Gadamer said that our experience of the world was linguistical, he also stressed, for Habermas, that it is open to self-correction, that is, that it could, to some extent, overcome its own limitations by seeking better expressions or dissolving its own rigidity and was thus open to any meaning that could be understood. Habermas and Karl-Otto Apel drew from this self-transcendence of language the important notion of a linguistic or communicative rationality, which is laden with universalistic assumptions that can form the basis of an ethical theory." (Jean Grondin,
Hermeneutics-Gadamer and His Critics) Therefore, in order to seek any truth, one must become critical in their attempts. Questioning is not only the aspiration, but the liberation of one's self while studying or, shall we say, "critiquing" Communication theories and practices.
