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

This book reassesses Gadamers hermeneutics by bringing it into a dialogue with John McDowells minimal empiricism. It employs the resources of McDowells minimal empiricism to address the transcendental and ontological presuppositions for objective experience and understanding, while retaining Gadamers 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 Gadamers 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. Thaning's book is a richly detailed, well-argued and coherent presentation of a defensible, and potentially very important, philosophical position. It demonstrates an impressively deep understanding of the literature both from the phenomenological tradition and from the part of the analytical tradition, inspired by Wilfred Sellars, to which John McDowell belongs. Being a substantial philosophical achievement in its own right, the book raises far-reaching questions that will be of interest to a wide audience. Dr. Steven Crowell, Rice University, Houston (USA) Morten Thanings book is an important contribution to the discourse of philosophical hermeneutics. Thaning extensively discusses a topic, which recent debates have touched upon, but which up to now has not been the subject matter of concentrated scholarly work: the relation between Gadamers hermeneutics and McDowells empiricism. With Thanings interpretation Gadamer work can be read anew as concerning the problem of hermeneutical objectivity. Prof. Dr. Gnter Figal, University of Freiburg (Germany)