Hermeneutic Ethics Research Articles

Gabriel Renggli, Joyce as Theory: Hermeneutic Ethics in Derrida, Lacan, and ‘Finnegans Wake’

Gabriel Renggli, <i>Joyce as Theory: Hermeneutic Ethics in Derrida, Lacan, and ‘Finnegans Wake’</i>

Translational bioethics as a two-way street. Developing clinical ethics support instruments with and for healthcare practitioners.

This article discusses an approach to translational bioethics (TB) that is concerned with the adaptation-or 'translation'-of concepts, theories and methods from bioethics to practical contexts, in order to support 'non-bioethicists', such as researchers and healthcare practitioners, in dealing with their ethical issues themselves. Specifically, it goes into the participatory development of clinical ethics support (CES) instruments that respond to the needs and wishes of healthcare practitioners and that are tailored to the specific care contexts in which they are to be used. The theoretical underpinnings of this participatory approach to TB are found in hermeneutic ethics and pragmatism. As an example, the development of CURA, a low-threshold CES instrument for healthcare professionals in palliative care, is discussed. From this example, it becomes clear that TB is a two-way street. Practice may be improved by means of CES that is effectively tailored to specific end users and care contexts. The other way around, ethical theory may be enriched by means of the insights gained from engaging with practice in developing CES in a process of co-creation. TB is also a two-way street in the sense that it requires collaboration and commitment of both bioethicists and practitioners, who engage in a process of mutual learning. However, substantial challenges remain. For instance, is there a limit to the extent to which a method of moral reasoning can be adapted in order to meet the constraints of a given healthcare setting? Who is to decide, the bioethicist or the practitioners?

Hermeneutic ethics: Virtuous circularity between knowledge and pleasure from Plato’s Philebus

Resumo: No contexto do projeto do autor, no sentido de justificar a dimensão ética da Hermenêutica, neste artigo, propõem-se respostas à pergunta central em torno da qual se articula o diálogo Filebo de Platão, a saber, “qual o estado e a disposição da alma (hexis kai diathesis) que pode outorgar aos homens uma vida feliz? É pelo conhecimento, ou pelo prazer?”. A partir das pistas propostas no diálogo, será desenvolvida a noção de vida boa e feliz como processo e resultado da mistura correta entre o conhecimento e o prazer. Sob a égide da hermenêutica gadameriana, tomada enquanto práxis ética, objetiva-se fundamentar a tese de que a felicidade é fruto da circularidade virtuosa entre o conhecimento e o prazer, em contraposição à circularidade viciosa que implementa a infelicidade, instaura uma vida escrava, a qual implica a destruição pessoal, social e ambiental. Isso se fará, explicitando-se, inicialmente, o tipo de ontologia e a racionalidade própria para lidar com a vida boa e feliz conjugada com o prazer, possibilitando serem indicadas pistas da alquimia apropriada - mediante a apuração dialógico-phronética - entre o conhecimento e o prazer, para instaurar a vida boa e feliz. A contribuição original desta reflexão reside em propor critérios para aferir se a mistura foi bem feita, através da apresentação de implicações da circularidade viciosa e corolários da circularidade virtuosa entre o conhecimento e o prazer. Mostrar-se-á que a circularidade viciosa fomenta a infelicidade, ao passo que a virtuosa faculta a criação de uma vida boa e feliz, em termos individuais, sociais, além de instaurar uma relação harmônica e de integração com o meio ambiente.

A dimensão ética da hermenêutica jurídica: repensando o interpretativismo de Ronald Dworkin a partir de Hans-Georg Gadamer

Does the so-called interpretive turn in legal theory have an ethical dimension? Based on this guiding question, for these reasons, this essay aims to reflect over the connections between normativity and interpretation. To do so, it proceeds as follows: briefly reconstructs the “Hermeneutic Turn” in contemporary Legal Theory, punctuating the interpretativism of Ronald Dworkin; exposes the recent ethical developments of Gadamer’s work; explores the consequences that an “hermeneutical ethics” could have for legal thinking; revisits the comparisons that Jürgen Habermas had made between juridical hermeneutics of the Gadamerian matrix and the Dworkinian interpretivism in Chapter 5 of Law and Democracy.

On the Hermeneuticus I as a Presupposition of Ethical Hermeneutics

The goal of this paper is to ground the concept of hermeneuticus I based on Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophy. Just as we can speak of a Cartesian I or Humean I, I intend to justify the existence of a hermeneuticus I by highlighting one’s posture (Tugend) towards the others. Although neither Gadamer nor his interpreters have coined or discussed this concept from the point of view of ethics, I think it is possible to do so according to the assumption that our peculiar way of being is understanding. In this way, I intend to begin paving the way for the construction of a Hermeneutical Ethics. I propose to do this based on the well-known I-Thou triadic relationship developed by Gadamer in Truth and Method I. Initially, I describe the posture of the two Is and show that their way of relating with the Thou is not hermeneutic. Then, according to Gadamer, I present the third type of I-Thou relationship by systematizing seven ethical postures proper to the hermeneuticus I, which are founded upon the I’s exercise of putting himself or herself in the place of the other, without the intention of instrumentalizing the latter. Finally, I develop conclusions and ethical and sociopolitical implications resulting from the action (praxis) of the hermeneuticus I.

A Virtual Dialogue between Gandhi and Levinas

Mahatma Gandhi and Emmanuel Levinas have much in common. They interpret religion in a radical ethical way and develop an ethical hermeneutics of religious sources. Levinas’s thoughts on a holy history, not to be confused with history, are comparable with Gandhi’s swaraj as the spiritual independence and self-transformation of India. Escaping war logics, they maintain a “beyond the state” in the state and insert ethics in politics. Yet, Gandhi’s ethico-politics works with radical interrelatedness, whereas Levinas differentiates more between the self and the other. Gandhi trusted that, in the end, the good would vanquish evil. Levinas, in turn, did not venture into the future: the present was under “eschatological judgment.” Gandhi’s love of the enemy and his attempt to soften the opponent’s heart are absent in Levinas’s metaphysics. In addition, Levinas does not radically deconstruct the term self-defense, although Gandhi notoriously made also exceptions to his ahimsa. A dialogue can be established between Levinas’s ethical metaphysics and Gandhi’s ahimsa and satyagraha. Both thinkers make a radical critique of a peace based on rational contracts and equate peace with universal brother- and sisterhood. Without underestimating the many similarities between Levinas and Gandhi, I also highlight their dissimilarities. I argue that precisely the differences between both thinkers allow for a “trans-different” dialogue, which respects specificities and promotes communication, in a movement of hospitality and mutual learning.

Toward a Hermeneutical Ethics of Narrative

Toward a Hermeneutical Ethics of Narrative

Hermeneutyczne granice etyki i etyczne granice hermeneutyki

Artykuł wskazuje pięć głównych punktów, w ramach których zachodzą związki między problematyką hermeneutyczną i etyczną. Można je wyrazić w pięciu tezach: 1) W działaniu moralnym zawarta jest praktyka hermeneutyczna. 2) Hermeneutyczna wykładnia rozumu praktycznego określa granice etyki. 3) Rozumienie samo jest fenomenem etycznym. 4) Z hermeneutyki daje się wyprowadzić etykę hermeneutyczną. 5) Hermeneutyka jest uzasadniona etycznie. Treść artykułu ogranicza się do analizy przede wszystkim tezy trzeciej – jak się wydaje, dotyczy ona kwestii zasadniczych tj. różnicy przedmiotu hermeneutyki i etyki oraz rozumienia tego, co praktyczne i teoretyczne. Poruszone również zostają zagadnienia związane z tezami pierwszą i drugą, co stanowi wstęp do głównych rozważań, w których ma miejsce odwołanie się do różnicy, jaka występuje między Hansem-Martinem Schönherr-Mannem i Pawłem Dyblem, w poglądach na temat etycznego znaczenia hermeneutyki.

Developing a 'moral compass tool' based on moral case deliberations: A pragmatic hermeneutic approach to clinical ethics.

Although moral case deliberation (MCD) is evaluated positively as a form of clinical ethics support (CES), it has limitations. To address these limitations our research objective was to develop a thematic CES tool. In order to assess the philosophical characteristics of a CES tool based on MCDs, we drew on hermeneutic ethics and pragmatism. We distinguished four core characteristics of a CES tool: (a) focusing on an actual situation that is experienced as morally challenging by the user; (b) stimulating moral inquiry into the moral concepts, questions and routines in the lived experience of the CES tool user; (c) stimulating moral learning by exploring other perspectives; and (d) incorporating contextual details. We provide an example of a CES tool developed for moral dilemmas over client autonomy. Our article ends with some reflections on the normativity of the CES tool, other application areas and the importance of evaluation studies of CES tools.

Identity Construction: Narrative Tension in Saul Bellow’s Herzog

This paper takes narrative ethics as the approach to analyze ethical dimensions of the tensions between self-narrative and other-narrative in Saul Bellow&amp;rsquo;s Herzog, and indicates that self-narrative represents the protagonist&amp;rsquo;s appeal of identity construction, other-narrative symbolizes external forces deconstructing his identity, and narrative reconciliation between self-narrative and other-narrative represents possibilities of his identity construction. Representational ethics shows that Herzog&amp;rsquo;s self-narrative attempts to construct identity through fictionalizing ideal self at the expense of real self, then to consolidate new identities by assimilating the absolute other. However, narrational ethics suggests that other-narrative represents the absolute other&amp;rsquo;s deconstruction of new identities constructed by Herzog&amp;rsquo;s subjective intention, and puts all new constructed identities into suspension. Identity reconstruction can be possible only when Herzog faces the gap between real self and ideal self, confronts existence of the absolute other, responds to its ethical call, and actualizes reconciliation between self-narrative and other narrative. Besides, hermeneutic ethics indicates that the reader also has a role to play in Herzog&amp;rsquo;s process of identity construction due to tensions between self-narrative and other-narrative, which bestows the reader with constantly switched ethical positions and distances from the text, thus makes the reader&amp;rsquo;s responsibility towards the text an infinite movement.

The Genuine Possibility of Being-with: Watsuji, Heidegger, and the Primacy of Betweenness

ABSTRACTIn Rinrigaku, Watsuji Tetsurō criticizes Martin Heidegger's Being and Time for taking as its starting point the standpoint of the individual “I.” For Watsuji, this “I” is an abstraction, and starting from it leads the phenomenologist to neglect the more fundamental standpoint of the person who is deeply engaged in social activities. In this paper, I explain that Watsuji's criticism is helpful in shedding light on Heidegger's failure to connect hermeneutic phenomenology to ethics in Being and Time. In particular, it is helpful in understanding the shortcomings of Heidegger's account of authenticity, which in Being and Time is juxtaposed with Dasein's immersion in social relations. I go on to argue, however, that Heidegger had made a more significant connection between hermeneutic phenomenology and ethics earlier, in his 1924 Marburg lectures on Aristotle (Basic Concepts of Aristotelian Philosophy), where his treatment of being-with-one-another resonates with Watsuji's later account of betweennness (aidagara).

El enclave de la educación desde el enfoque de la hermenéutica crítica

En este trabajo adoptamos una postura crítica, en primer lugar, ante un planteamiento que desde la investigación empírica pretende explicar los fines propios de la educación. Frente a éste proponemos la metodología hermenéutico-crítica para desentrañar cuáles son los fines últimos de la educación. Descubrimos que desde la metodología hermenéutico-crítica es posible enfocar adecuadamente el fin de la educación así como aportar una justificación ética solvente. Profundizando en la dimensión crítica de la hermenéutica, pero sin desvincularla de su quicio experiencial, reparamos en que no basta con interpretar los valores establecidos por la sociedad, sino que es necesario ahondar en el radical ético que justifica la educación como auténtico desarrollo humano de las capacidades morales. Esta experiencia primordial de la educación que hunde sus raíces en el radical humano es una experiencia genuinamente ética. A este respecto, destacamos once claves del enfoque éticohermenéutico y sus ventajas para la determinación del enclave de la educación.

Towards an Ethical Hermeneutics of Journalism

This paper applies a Ricœurian ethics in a two-fold personal/societal critique, choosing as a case study the representation of an “other” in a newspaper article. The personal critique uses a historical narrative (my own) as a window. Through it, we see hysterical stories about national enemies—in this case the Greek Cypriots—imposing themselves upon the developing consciousness of a growing child. I describe my awakening—through Ricœur’s idea of the creativity of language—from the spell of these dominant normative national narratives to the possibility of re-reading them creatively. Ricœur’s blueprint for engagement with such narrative structures holds out the promise of reading them in an ethical manner, and this is achievable through his linguistic hospitality. From there, this study, analyzing the ethical predicaments of mainstream journalism from the perspective of critical media studies, problematizes the issue of otherness in the news. The example taken up, a current Turkish newspaper article covering a Turkish Cypriot Parliamentarian’s remarks in session regarding the experiences of 1974 Cyprus, reveals how this otherization is actually constructed under the name of the journalistic profession. This essay then borrows a Ricœurian ethical perspective with a view to making news language more hospitable, repositioning both news organizations and news items alike within Ricœur’s ethical paradigm of leading a good life with and for others within just institutions. This conceptualization of the news item itself as a just institution is a change that journalists could make in order to bring the news more in line with a Ricœurian sense of ethics and away from the current dominant practices in mainstream journalism.

The First Notes About an Epistemological Orientation to the Law From the Relation Between Sensitivity and Understanding

O artigo tem como tema a estética kantiana e propõe um estudo do juízo reflexionante e de sua relação com a ética hermenêutica crítica, tendo como objetivo geral investigar a ética hermenêutica crítica e as possibilidades desta oferecer bases epistemológicas para o direito na contemporaneidade. Identificou-se que estender o juízo reflexionante para o campo da ética é possível, pois ainda que o juízo reflexionante não seja constitutivo e nem normativo, possui função orientadora ligada ao princípio da conformidade e a fins que podem servir de orientação para os casos que se apresentam em Direito.

Rozumieć całym sobą. Próba ugruntowania etyki w hermeneutycznej etyce działania fizycznego

Niniejszy artykuł składa się z dwóch części. Pierwsza ma charakter wprowadzający i prowadzi do spostrzeżenia, że powstająca etyka hermeneutyczna winna uczynić zadość wezwaniu Nietzschego do „pozostawania wiernym ziemi”. Chodzi o ugruntowanie etyki w działaniu fizycznym. Pewne elementy takiej etyki znajdują się nie tylko w myśli Nietzschego, ale również Diltheya i Heideggera. Zwłaszcza myśl tego ostatniego, mimo jej zgoła „duchowego” charakteru, może stanowić dobry punkt wyjścia dla budowy etyki hermeneutycznej zanurzonej w ludzkiej fizyczności. Wskazując na ograniczenia „etyki hermeneutycznej” Heideggera i przekraczając je, część druga artykułu próbuje ukazać związek hermeneutyki i etyki na poziomie działania fizycznego, odwołując się w tej kwestii do „antropologii teatru” J. Grotowskiego. Wypracowane w jej obrębie zasady dają możliwość działania autentycznego, rozpoczynającego się na poziomie „fizjologii” i kończącego się „duchowym” oświeceniem.

Zakat Komoditas Pertanian Dalam Perspektif Hermeneutika Etik

Zakat is seen as one of solutions to the community socio-economic problems, in this case the distribution of welfare and poverty alleviation. Looking at the context of contemporary Indonesia, zakat for agricultural commodities seems to need a review to be able to find its relevance. The majority of farmers who cultivate staple food crops in Indonesia are generally still in the middle to lower economic class, even at the poverty threshold. Hermeneutics is a scientific instrument that has a primary function as a means to better understand texts, symbols and phenomena. With a better understanding of religious texts and phenomena, an important point will be obtained to find the contextuality of religious teachings for today's life. In the perspective of Paul Ricoeur's ethical hermeneutics, zakat can be understood as a religious ritual based on a spirit of togetherness towards independence. The principle of equitable welfare distribution and professional equality, fosters ethical awareness of the need for the remodeling of niṣâb, so that agricultural commodities have an equivalent value to other commodities in modern economic life. The need for the re-contextualization of the formulation of zakat is an effort to find a meeting point for equality and balance of farmers in industrial society.

Schriftgezag op het speelveld van de hermeneutische ethiek

Scripture on the playground of hermeneutical ethics. As a tribute to Jan G. van der Watt, in this article I offer a reflection on the authority of Scripture in ethics, in attempted loyalty to the motto of our theological faculty: Fides Quaerens Intellectum. The main thesis of this article is that ethics not only requires hermeneutics, but that the core task of ethics itself is interpretation. From an evangelical-reformed perspective, I will present a phenomenological and hermeneutical model, inspired by thinkers such as Gadamer and Ricoeur, defining ethics itself as a hermeneutical exercise, an act of interpretation, inherent to life itself. Defining ethics as such will influence the way in which we will integrate Scripture in our moral discourse. The playing field of hermeneutical Christian ethics is described by four points we will briefly discuss. Firstly, we will describe ethics as a philosophical and theological discipline with a hermeneutical task. Next, I offer three anchor points for the unique contribution of Scripture to this hermeneutical process: (1) faith as the entry point for interpreting Scripture as a source for Christian ethics; (2) the church in the world as the context in which one uses Scripture; and (3) in the Augustinian tradition, the double commandment of love as the ultimate rule of interpretation, the measure against which every text should be read. Despite the fact that these three anchor points all have their negative counterparts (idolatry, individualism and resentment), they are vital to the interpretation of Scripture in Christian ethics. Pastors who use Scripture for moral direction have to be aware of the characteristics of moral

Ethical Hermeneutics, or How the Ubiquity of the Finite Casts the Human in the Shadow of the Dark Side of the Moon

Ethical Hermeneutics, or How the Ubiquity of the Finite Casts the Human in the Shadow of the Dark Side of the Moon

Pomiędzy hermeneutyką a edukacją. Perspektywa Paula Ricoeura

In this article I would like to express the possibilities resulting of the application of hermeneutical ethics to the education field. Specifically I adopt the perspective of Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutical ethics as it is presented mainly in Oneself as Another . I proceed as next: (1) first, I briefly describe the structure of Ricoeur’s hermeneutical ethics; (2) after that I explain the application to medical ethics drafted by Ricoeur which I develop and expand, and (3) finally, I present how this hermeneutical ethics can be applied to the education field. Then we will be ready to expose an applied ethics for education through Paul Ricoeur’s theory. It will be evident that the key question is what defines the idea of “application” ( Anwendung ) itself.

Playing with Others

Scholars of hermeneutics have recently taken up the task of elucidating Gadamer’s ethics by studying his work on the structure of understanding and human experience. This article seeks to contribute to that scholarship through an examination of Gadamer’s aesthetics. I suggest that Gadamer’s notions of play and aesthetic non-differentiation provide further resources for understanding Gadamer’s hermeneutic ethics as an ethics of non-differentiation, i.e., a unification of theory and practice (understanding and application). For Gadamer, an understanding of the good is its enactment in the context of the dialogical play we find ourselves engaged in with others. Furthermore, Gadamer’s identification of aesthetic non-differentiation with play reveals that his ethics aims not only to unify theory and practice but also to unite participants in the ethical play as intersubjective elements of a shared experience. Retrieving the ethical import of Gadamer’s aesthetics also helps to unfold Gadamer’s suggestion that hermeneutics itself is an ethical enterprise.