Gadamer's Hermeneutics

In Gadamers Hermeneutics Robert J. Dostal provides a comprehensive and critical account of Hans-Georg Gadamers hermeneutical philosophy, arguing that Gadamers enterprise is rooted in the thesis that being that can be understood is language. He defends Gadamer against charges of linguistic idealism and emphasizes languages relationship to understanding, though he criticizes Gadamer for too often ignoring the role of the prelinguistic in our experience.Dostal goes on to explain the important role of the concept of the inner word for Gadamers account of language. The book situates Gadamers hermeneutics in three important ways: in relation to the contestability of the legacy of the Enlightenment project; in relation to the work of his mentor, Martin Heidegger; and in relation to Gadamers reading of Plato and Aristotle. Dostal explores both Gadamers claim on the Enlightenment and his ambivalence toward it.He considers Gadamers dependence on Heideggers accomplishment while pointing out the ways in which Gadamer charted his own course, rejecting his teachers reading of Plato and his antihumanism. Dostal points out notable differences in the philosophers politics as well. Finally, Dostal mediates between Gadamers hermeneutics and what might be called philological hermeneutics.His analysis defends the civic humanism that is the culmination of the philosophers hermeneutics, a humanism defined by moral education, common sense, judgment, and taste.Supporters and critics of Gadamers philosophy will learn much from this major achievement.