Radical Hermeneutics forges a closer collaboration between hermeneutics and deconstruction than has previously been attempted. For John D. Caputo, hermeneutics means radical thinking without transcendental justification: attending to the ruptures and irregularities in existence before the metaphysics of presence has a chance to smooth them over. Part One shows how Kierkegaardian repetition and Husserlian constitution are fused in Heidegger's classic of hermeneutic statement, Being and Time. Part Two takes up the radicalization of Husserl's and Heidegger's questioning carried out by Derrida. Here, Caputo urges a more radical reading of Heidegger as well as a more hermeneutic reading of Derrida. Part Three argues that radical thinking is not an exercise in nihilism, as its critics charge, but a renewed vigilance about the gaps and differences inherent in our experience. Caputo projects the possibility of a postmetaphysical conception of rationality, an ethics of dissemination, and a notion of faith liberated from the onto-theo-logic. Radical Hermeneutics addresses the most trenchant issues in recent Continental thought.
In these spirited essays, John D. Caputo continues the project he launched with Radical Hermeneutics of making hermeneutics and deconstruction work together. Caputo claims that we are not born into this world hard-wired to know Being, Truth, or the Good, and we are not vessels of a Divine or other omnipotent supernatural force. Focusing on how various contemporary philosophers develop aspects of this fragmented view of the life world in areas such as madness, friendship, democracy, gender, science, the "end of ethics," religion, and mysticism, this animated study by one of America's leading continental philosophers shakes the foundations of religion and philosophy, even as it gives them new life.
Is anything ever not an interpretation? Does interpretation go all the way down? Is there such a thing as a pure fact that is interpretation-free? If not, how are we supposed to know what to think and do? These tantalizing questions are tackled by renowned American thinker John D Caputo in this wide-reaching exploration of what the traditional term 'hermeneutics' can mean in a postmodern, twenty-first century world. As a contemporary of Derrida's and longstanding champion of rethinking the disciplines of theology and philosophy, for decades Caputo has been forming alliances across disciplines and drawing in readers with his compelling approach to what he calls "radical hermeneutics." In this new introduction, drawing upon a range of thinkers from Heidegger to the Parisian "1968ers" and beyond, he raises a series of probing questions about the challenges of life in the postmodern and maybe soon to be 'post-human' world.'
These essays focus on and explore the idea of radicalizing hermeneutics, first proposed in John D. Caputo's study Radical Hermeneutics. They address the confrontation of hermeneutics and postmodernism, and include contributors from the fields of philosophy, literature and science.
Laila Storch is a world-renowned oboist in her own right, but her book honors Marcel Tabuteau, one of the greatest figures in twentieth-century music. Tabuteau studied the oboe from an early age at the Paris Conservatoire and was brought to the United States in 1905, by Walter Damrosch, to play with the New York Symphony Orchestra. Although this posed a problem for the national musicians' union, he was ultimately allowed to stay, and the rest, as they say, is history. Eventually moving to Philadelphia, Tabuteau played in the Philadelphia Orchestra and taught at the Curtis Institute of Music, ultimately revamping the oboe world with his performance, pedagogical, and reed-making techniques. In 1941, Storch auditioned for Tabuteau at the Curtis Institute, but was rejected because of her gender. After much persistence and several cross-country bus trips, she was eventually accepted and began a life of study with Tabuteau. Blending archival research with personal anecdotes, and including access to rare recordings of Tabuteau and Waldemar Wolsing, Storch tells a remarkable story in an engaging style.
Late in his life, Hans-Georg Gadamer was asked to explain what the universal aspect of hermeneutics consisted in, and he replied, enigmatically, "in the verbum interius." Gadamer devoted a pivotal section of his magnum opus, Truth and Method, to this Augustinian concept, and subsequently pointed to it as a kind of passkey to his thought. It remains, however, both in its origins and its interpretations, a mysterious concept. From out of its layered history, it remains a provocation to thought, expressing something about the relation of language and understanding that has yet to be fully worked out. The scholastic idea of a word that is fully formed in the mind but not articulated served Augustine as an analogy for the procession of the Trinity, and served Thomas Aquinas as an analogy for the procession between divine ideas and human thought. Gadamer turned the analogy on its head by using the verbum interius to explain the obscure relation between language and human understanding. His learned interpretation of the idea of the inner word through Neoplatonism, Lutheranism, idealism, and historicism may seem nearly as complex as the medieval source texts he consulted and construed in his exegesis, but the profoundity of his insights are unquestioned. In unpacking Gadamer's interpretive feat, John Arthos provides an overview of the philosophy of the logos out of which the verbum interius emerged. He summarizes the development of the verbum in ancient and medieval doctrine, traces its path through German thought, and explains its relevance to modern hermeneutic theory. His work unfolds in two parts, as an expansive intellectual history and as a close analysis and commentary on source texts on the inner word, from Augustine to Gadamer. As such, this book serves as an indispensable guide and reference for hermeneutics and the intellectual traditions out of which it arose, as well as an original theoretical statement in its own right. "Consummately researched, lucidly written, and persuasively argued throughout, The Inner Word succeeds brilliantly in bringing to light this neglected but pivotal matter in Gadamer's work. Arthos is learned in the best 'humanist' way, for he succeeds in creating something new of his own that will speak eloquently to all of us." --Walter Jost, University of Virginia "Gadamer suggests that the Christian idea of incarnation is a key to his hermeneutics, but does not explain his position in a detailed or systematic manner. Arthos brings his considerable knowledge of hermeneutics and rhetoric to bear on Gadamer's insight, recounting the rich intellectual history to which Gadamer gestures, and providing an extended and detailed exegesis of this pivotal point in the third part of Truth and Method. Gadamer's account of 'linguisticality,' Arthos explains, can best be understood through his use of a complex metaphor--the 'inner word.' Arthos matches his erudition with clear and clean prose, and his account exemplifies, rather than just describes, Gadamer's hermeneutical philosophy. Any scholar interested in Gadamer's philosophy should have this book on his or her shelf." --Francis J. Mootz III, William S. Boyd Professor of Law, William S. Boyd School of Law "Arthos's strength lies for me in his careful reading of the sources. He effectively commands the literature on the subject. This work shows in a sophisticated way the legacy of trinitarian theology for philosophical hermeneutics. The very complex task of illuminating the phenomenon of the verbum interius and indicating its centrality for philosophical hermeneutics is accomplished by John Arthos with great sensitivity to the subject matter." --Andrzej Wiercinski, The International Institute for Hermeneutics
In Francis A. Sullivan, S.J. and Ecclesiological Hermeneutics, Canaris traces the significant contributions that Francis A. Sullivan, S.J. has made to Catholic ecclesiology, paying particular attention to the method and application of his hermeneutical approach to the writings of the magisterium. Though highly esteemed by professional theologians in both Catholic and ecumenical circles, Sullivan is less well-known among general audiences than many of his peers. The author addresses this lacuna by arguing that Sullivan’s work, when viewed through an interpretive lens, can aid the faithful to engage seriously with magisterial texts of various genres and levels of authority, find meaning within them, and encourage an active reception process whereby contemporary understanding of the teaching (and learning) role of the entire church becomes possible.
