Hermeneutic Circle Research Articles

K čemu je antropologizace historie?

This contribution aims to review the axiomatic premises of neurophysiology, psychoanalysis and deconstructionism (in their most extreme forms), and to discuss correspondences and differences in the concepts of humanness on which they are based. This discussion will reveal the high degree of similarity in these underlying concepts. Both sociobiology and psychoanalysis in effect negate human free will to a great extent with their explanations of behaviour as the result of a limited repertoire of basic drives or biochemically regulated patterns. Deconstructionism, on the other hand, while seeming to reject this approach, is in fact ultimatey also grounded in psychoanalytical axioms. On this basis, the value of further pursuing these epistemological paths appears questionable. If work is oriented around recognising the limits of the explainable, in the sense of a classic hermeneutic circle, then it would seem more useful to return to more modest goals, which can only be realised within the context of comprehensive historical and cultural contextualisation. The processes in which human patterns of interpretation and action emerge and are transformed can be reduced neither to "unconscious" drives nor to the autonomous perception of the body by a subject, and nor can they be interpreted as mere de-materialised language.

Aesthetics or Communication?: Social Semiotic Traits of Structured Forms in Studies of “Animal Beauty”

AbstractThe article investigates basic relations between aesthetics and communication based on studies of and discussions about what has been termed “animal beauty”. The concepts beauty, aesthetics, and communication are problematised, starting from utterances’ structured form, which is seen both as the physical basis for as well as one of five key aspects in animal utterances (form, content, act, time, and space). The relational, and thus social semiotic, communicational role of this aspect is searched in different studies leading to two major claims: Firstly, that five corresponding constitutional traits or aspects, aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, temporality, and spatiality collectively form a basis for animals’ evaluation of the subjective value of utterances. The importance of each of them varies depending on what kind of communication (life-genre) they are associated with. Secondly, that aesthetics should be comprehended on four integrated levels, from micro to macro, sign, utterance, life-genre, and life-world. These four levels plus five aspects or components in utterances make up a systemic, social semiotic communicational framework which in turn is applied for inspections of studies studying “beauty”. Methodological challenges applying them are briefly discussed. An overall conclusion is that research on the evolutionary role of animal beauty should treat the aesthetics of utterances as part of the hermeneutic circle, simultaneously as categorial and relational, in other words as a constitutive part of a whole, a semiotic, species-specific socio-communicational system.

Placing machine learning into the hermeneutic circle: a combined computational-interpretive method for text analysis

Placing machine learning into the hermeneutic circle: a combined computational-interpretive method for text analysis

Gentrification as a field of study in environmental sciences

This article examines the interaction between gentrification and environmental sciences in Colombia, using a hermeneutic desk review approach to unravel how this urban phenomenon influences and is influenced by environmental factors. Through the hermeneutic circle method, adapted for a single researcher, a deep understanding of the existing literature is achieved and main lines of research are identified. Areas explored include green gentrification, climate change impacts, health and well-being effects, environmental justice, and associated public policies. The study highlights the need for policies that balance environmental improvement with social protection, and underlines the importance of including local communities in urban planning processes to prevent displacement and increase social equity. This interdisciplinary approach provides valuable insights to understand the complexity of gentrification and its multiple dimensions in an urban and environmental context

Didactic sequence for realistic simulation: double diamond method for teaching drug administration

Realistic simulation is an effective pedagogical strategy that uses simulated scenarios and situations to promote practical and experiential learning in various areas of education, including medical and nursing education. For this reason, it is necessary to create a registration model to carry out realistic simulation in a standardized and systematized way. The aim of this study is to develop an interactive didactic sequence model based on the pedagogical hermeneutic circle applied to realistic simulations in the preparation and administration of medication. Results: The development of an interactive didactic sequence based on the Dialectical Hermeneutic Circle resulted in a complex instrument that guarantees the construction and reconstruction of reality, which is presented in a dialogical way through a constant back and forth between the students' successive interpretations and reinterpretations. The conclusion is that the interactive didactic sequence for realistic drug simulation guarantees continuous dialog between teachers and students, creating a more interactive learning environment where students are encouraged to express their doubts, opinions and challenges, which is fundamental for building knowledge.

The indelible role of the interpretive researcher's fore-structure in traversing the hermeneutic circle.

Phenomenological researchers are obliged to grasp the epistemological and ontological differences between the Husserlian and Heideggerian branches of phenomenology to avoid misappropriating phenomenological terms or mischaracterizing study design. To that end, we spell out the key differences between both phenomenological traditions as background for describing the indelible role that the researcher's background assumptions, or fore-structure, play in interpretive studies. We draw on our four studies to illustrate how we traversed the hermeneutic circle to disclose, challenge, and refine the personal, cultural, clinical, and scientific assumptions hidden in our fore-structures. Our reflections highlight how understanding evolves, not by bracketing or disengaging ourselves from the phenomena we study, but by engaging in an open dialogthat seeks understanding as lived by patients and families.

Be-ing seen: towards a feminist interpretative phenomenological analysis to researching the marginalised

ABSTRACT Drawing from a study of women on boards in Egypt, in this methodological article we propose and illustrate four parts of a multidimensional feminist hermeneutic process for Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a method of uncovering hidden stories of marginalised voices and unrecognised contexts. Underpinned by Heidegger’s hermeneutic phenomenology, our novel four-stage approach includes visual images as an alternative mode of data (re)presentation within the hermeneutic circle of interpretation. We show how IPA enables (re)imagining new possibilities of doing and writing feminist research and promotes an in-depth knowledge of the lived experience of women, as well as the systemic issues that concern them. Our contribution highlights our IPA process and outcomes, as a form of feminist praxis that prioritises the recognition of marginalisation and Otherness, embraces an ethic of care towards research participants and researchers, and provides a transformative, emancipatory opportunity for reciprocal learning, awareness and knowing of experience.

Indigenous Accounts of Spiraling Time

Abstract Time has often been understood as either linear or cyclical, sometimes in Eurocentric ways that enclose Indigenous peoples in natural cycles with little or no historical development. This article explores an alternative to the line and the circle. In the context of environmental destruction, Indigenous scholars have suggested that traditional Indigenous accounts of spiraling time, from the Anishinaabe and Māori to the Aztecs and Muskoke, better connect nature with human history as well as more appropriately link human generations, including ancestors and descendants. Exploring its connection with the hermeneutic circle and other notions, I will propose the spiral as indeed a promising way to grasp these important connections. In conclusion, I will discuss the question of whether Indigenous spiral ontologies can be proposed for all of humanity beyond knowledge extractivism.

Balancing Depth and Breadth to Understand Macro Phenomena: Some Advice for Analyzing Global Qualitative Datasets

For qualitative scholars, achieving interpretive depth when analyzing large global datasets represents a particular challenge. It is, however, a challenge worth navigating given the power of such datasets to provide a depth of insight into large-scale societal issues. Building on existing insights about qualitative analysis and examples from my own experience of large global research projects, here I seek to offer some advice in this regard. I provide three general heuristics that scholars can keep in mind as characterizing this endeavor: the hermeneutic circle, distributed cognition; and embracing doubt. I then show how these heuristics unfold practically, illustrating a four-step process that I hope is helpful for qualitative researchers seeking to balance depth and breadth to understand macro phenomena.

University lecturers’ lived experiences of teaching critical thinking in Australian university: a hermeneutic phenomenological research

AbstractThe study explores insights into the phenomenon of Australian lecturers’ lived experiences of teaching standalone critical thinking units within associate degree courses at one university in Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. The study makes an original contribution by focusing upon the experiences of teaching staff in Australian universities in relation to teaching critical thinking, particularly from a Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological and Gadamerian hermeneutic theoretical and conceptual framework. At present, there are no unified methods, frameworks, or models of teaching critical thinking in Australian higher education. This problem for lecturers is an important aspect of a university education that is not well understood. This is a global educational issue and is a matter of teaching and learning concern worldwide in tertiary education (e.g. United States of America, New Zealand, Canada, and the UK). Although, several studies have been conducted on teaching critical thinking from the perspective of university lecturers. There is limited research that focus on teaching staff in Australian universities’ experience with teaching critical thinking that has used Heidegger’s hermeneutic phenomenology and Gadamer’s hermeneutic circle, interpretive approach in gathering data. Using interviews, data is conducted with three first-year undergraduate Australian university Ph.D. lecturers. During the analysis of the empirical data, three themes were significant in revealing the key findings: (a) Dwelling; (b) Sorge, and (c) Concern. The comprehensive understanding of the results was that the challenges university lecturers faced in developing students to thinking critically provided new pedagogical curriculum insights for the teaching and learning of a standalone critical thinking unit within the associate degree course.

Altruism in the interpretation of Russian religious philosophy

Introduction. A number of Orthodox philosophers, among them K.N. Leontiev, criticized New European altruism, and N.A. Berdyaev generally rejected it, calling it “the teaching of bourgeois-democratic morality, the middle-general morality of well-being, the morality of quantities”. P.A. Florensky, N.O. Lossky, V.S. Soloviev, on the contrary, called altruism active love and Christian agape. L.N. Tolstoy believed that the good of people lies in unity and solidarity, and F.M. Dostoevsky called for active and selfless love, which is capable of transforming and purifying. This position of Russian religious philosophers arouses research interest in the author of the article. Thus, the purpose of the work is to conduct a comparative analysis of a number of concepts of Orthodox thinkers who interpreted the concept of altruism differently, but at the same time expressed similar opinions in relation to this ethical category. Methodology and sources. The author uses the hermeneutic method, which allows one to immerse oneself in the study and interpretation of the texts of Russian religious philosophers, which helps to create a voluminous hermeneutic circle of Russian culture, highlighting its features. Results and discussions. The author's approach to the study of culture and interpretation of cultural meanings through the analysis of ethical categories can be called original. A similar approach may be useful to researchers in the field of cultural philosophy as a possible method when studying a particular sociocultural system. Analyzing the concepts of Russian religious philosophers using a similar method helps the author highlight the value foundations of Russian culture. Conclusion. Altruism as a cultural phenomenon and ethical category, once on the soil of Russian culture, acquires a completely different meaning and fullness.

“What does well-being mean to me?” Conceptualisations of well-being in Irish primary schooling

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of the term well-being as conceptualised by parents, grandparents, principals and teachers in the Irish primary education system.Design/methodology/approachA hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted to understand the nature and meaning of the phenomenon of well-being. Interviews were carried out with 54 principals, teachers, parents and grandparents from a representative sample of primary schools in Ireland. Each participant was asked the same, open, question: “What does well-being mean to you?” Responses were transcribed verbatim and analysed using a combination of the principles of the hermeneutic circle and Braun and Clarke’s framework for thematic analysis.FindingsThree conceptualisations of well-being were identified (1) well-being is about being happy, (2) well-being is about being healthy and safe and (3) well-being is something you “do”.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge this paper is the first of its kind to describe how well-being is conceptualised by adults in Irish primary school contexts. In particular it highlights how neoliberal conceptualisations of well-being as a “thing”, a commodity exchanged on assumptions of individualism, moralism and bio-economism, have crept into the education of our youngest citizens.

Beyond Text and Context: Modern Scientific Discoveries through Gadamerian Hermeneutics and the Hermeneutical Circle in Quranic Interpretation

Beyond Text and Context: Modern Scientific Discoveries through Gadamerian Hermeneutics and the Hermeneutical Circle in Quranic Interpretation

Quantum Technologies: a Hermeneutic Technology Assessment Approach

This paper develops a hermeneutic technology assessment of quantum technologies. It offers a “vision assessment” of quantum technologies that can eventually lead to socio-ethical analysis. Section 2 describes this methodological approach and in particular the concept of the hermeneutic circle applied to technology. Section 3 gives a generic overview of quantum technologies and their impacts. Sections 4 and 5 apply the hermeneutic technology assessment approach to the study of quantum technologies. Section 5 proposes distinguishing three levels in the analysis of the creation and communication of social meanings to quantum technologies: (a) fictions, (b) popularization, and (c) scientific journalism. Section 6 analyzes the results and defines some lines of action to increase social acceptance and trust in quantum technologies. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on quantum technologies by enhancing the reflection on them and their potential, as well as illustrating the complexity of technological innovation and the need to shape it.

From the Phenomenology of Reactivation to the Hermeneutics of Innovation

Abstract While in Husserl’s and Merleau-Ponty’s writings, the concept of sedimentation was linked to that of reactivation, Ricœur replaced the juxtaposition of these two concepts with the collocation of sedimentation and innovation. The central goal of this paper is to clarify why Ricœur replaces the phenomenological concept of reactivation with the hermeneutical concept of innovation. After explicating how reactivation was understood in Husserlian phenomenology, I show why this concept is out of place in Ricœur’s phenomenological hermeneutics. I further identify four possible ways to understand the relation between Ricœur’s hermeneutics of innovation and Husserl’s phenomenology of reactivation. Afterwards, while offering a detailed analysis of the threefold mimesis—the central theme in Ricœur’s Time and Narrative—I show that Ricœur’s concept of innovation is tied to that of productive imagination. Ricœur’s productive imagination is therefore not any kind of creatio ex nihilo. Being rooted in cultural and historical worlds, productive imagination configures and reconfigures the world against the background of sedimented prefigurations. While Husserl had offered a vertical model to understand sedimentations, and while Merleau-Ponty had replaced this model with a horizontal one, Ricœur’s model can be qualified as circular: the dialectical play of sedimentations and innovations shapes the hermeneutical circle within which the human experience of the world unfolds. This means: just as productive imagination is grounded in sedimentations, so also, sedimentations spring from productive imagination.

GADAMER’S PHENOMENOLOGICAL AESTHETICS IN THE CONTEXT OF TIMBRE ANALYSIS OF TEXT

The article explores the phenomenological aesthetics of Hans-Georg Gadamer, specifically focusing on its application in the context of timbral text analysis. The study thoroughly investigates how Gadamer’s phenomenological perspective can enhance the understanding and interpretation of texts, by viewing them as intricate, multi-layered constructs that require analysis of their emotional and expressive elements. The authors delve into such fundamental concepts, as the fusion of the author’s and reader’s horizons, the hermeneutic circle, and the dynamic nature of these horizons within timbral analysis. A significant portion of the paper is dedicated to examining the role of historical context and personal preconceptions in the interpretation process. It underscores the importance of acknowledging historical and cultural horizons to achieve a comprehensive understanding of texts. The article presents an innovative approach to the interpretation of literary texts, merging Gadamer’s phenomenological aesthetics with timbral analysis techniques. This research redefines traditional text analysis methodologies by attempting to bridge the gap between philosophical aesthetics and practical text analysis. This work offers a novel perspective on text analysis and interpretation. The authors’ approach not only deepens the understanding of Gadamer’s phenomenology but also demonstrates its utility in text analysis. The study is poised to influence future research in text interpretation, encouraging a more nuanced and holistic approach that takes into consideration both the aesthetic and emotional components of texts, as well as the cultural and historical context in which they are embedded.

The future of Black Theology of Liberation: Narrative as epistemological resource

The death of Black Theology of Liberation (BTL) has been announced, and many were invited to the funeral. This article rejects vehemently such a death as a myth, and provides two reasons why such a theology would have a place to address theologising in the world. It firstly argues that BTL attributes its birth through stories. These stories are captured in history; embodied stories that are told. Secondly, it is found in a broader epistemology than that provided by the Enlightenment paradigm. Therefore, it is not only found in conceptual, argumentative discourses, but other forms of knowledge systems, including stories, poetry, and personal storytelling. However, this has still not been equally appreciated and explored. Taking the above two reasons into account, the death of BTL cannot be announced by academics, since they were never the sole custodians thereof, only recipients of the tradition of an oppressed people.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article has implications for how theology is being done in all theology-related disciplines, moving from context, to scripture, to context in a continuous hermeneutical circle. It addresses the way in which all theological disciplines have been functioning within the Enlightenment paradigm, and how black theology itself has lent itself to it, but is continually reforming, because of its nature to be narrative in its approach.

Insights into mobile learning continuance intention among school students and teachers via a hermeneutic phenomenological study during COVID-19

PurposeThis study aims to describe the m-learning experience of school students and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores the factors influencing the continuance intention of m-learning.Design/methodology/approachSemistructured interviews of 24 students and 09 teachers of schools in national capital territory (NCT) Delhi, India were conducted over 03 months and transcribed verbatim. A hermeneutic phenomenological design was used to interpret the text and bring out the “lived experiences” of m-learning.FindingsThe following 15 themes or factors influencing continuance intention emerged through the hermeneutic circle: (1) actual usage, (2) attitude, (3) context, (4) extrinsic motivation, (5) facilitating conditions, (6) intrinsic motivation, (7) perceived compatibility, (8) perceived content quality, (9) perceived mobile app quality, (10) perceived teaching quality, (11) perceived usefulness, (12) satisfaction, (13) self-efficacy, (14) self-management of learning and (15) social influence.Research limitations/implicationsThe study offers insightful recommendations for school administrators, mobile device developers and app designers. In addition, suggestions for effectively using m-learning during disasters such as COVID-19 have been provided. Several future research directions, including a nuanced understanding of m-assessment and online discussions, are suggested to enhance the literature on m-learning continuance.Originality/valueThe study enriches the literature on m-learning continuance. A qualitative approach has been used to identify relevant factors influencing m-learning continuance intention among secondary and higher secondary level (Grades 9 to 12) school students and teachers in India. In addition, a conceptual framework of the relationships among the factors has been proposed. Further, an analysis of the lived experiences of m-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic indicated several issues and challenges in using m-learning during disasters.

NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORIC MEMORY VS CATHOLIC TRADITIONAL DISCOURSE IN LOUISE ERDRICH’S NOVELS

This article analyses the Catholic interpretation of Bible-Christian imagery presupposition within Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine series. Religious discourse might be either explicit (when all the conclusions are clear) or implicit (when some shades of meanings are hidden). But this mystery is worth enshrouding with some linguistic technics. In this case, the most suitable approach would be the hermeneutical method, particularly utilizing its “hermeneutical circle” technique. This method involves breaking down the text into smaller fragments, interpreting each part individually, and then integrating these interpretations into a broader contextual understanding. Testament’s allusions are really vivid within the “Love Medicine” novel. The problem of interpreting Native American literature has been a concern for Ukrainian literary theorists since it first appeared in our country. It is worth mentioning that this kind of fiction is known in our country for less than ten years, and its interpretation is complicated not only because of the variety of positions, oppositions, and assumptions, but also due to the lack of thorough theoretical approaches to it that is caused by the lack of indigenist information. The post-millennium, the time of choices and challenges, provides an opportunity for Ukrainian scholars to expand the boundaries of their transnational research representation and include the names of indigenous authors in their research agenda.

Палеоэстетика Д. Тернера в контексте герменевтики и философии истории

The article discusses a new book by Derek Turner, Paleoaesthetics and the Practice of Paleontology, which is the first outline on the given topic with a fairly wide coverage of current research literature. In a sense, Turner’s work can be viewed as an invitation to a dialogue between researchers who are interested in the philosophical and methodological problems of geology in general and paleontology in particular. The presented application of Turner for the construction of the theory of aesthetic values in the earth sciences requires a comprehensive consideration and study by different researchers. The aim of this article is to determine the place of Turner’s concept of paleoaesthetics in the general field of Western European philosophy. The article proves that Turner, like the classic of hermeneutics Gadamer, points to a close relationship between epistemic (historical) and aesthetic values in cognition. The dependence of our aesthetic perception of a fossil on the knowledge of its history, which Turner points out, can be described without distortion of meaning in terms of hermeneutics, namely, through the concept of the hermeneutic circle and the role of prior knowledge in historical knowledge. Also, Turner’s appeal to reflection on metaphors in paleontology, as on the poetic dimension of knowledge, also correlates with the idea of Hayden White, a classic of the philosophy of history of the 20th century, about the need to reflect on the poetic dimension of historical knowledge, as well as the fundamental role of the poetic in the construction of historical works. In addition, in his desire to make paleontology more exploratory and to move away from the descriptive nature of studies of the history of the Earth, Turner conducts the same operation as R. J. Collingwood, who strictly separated the descriptive history of “scissors and glue” from scientific history. In the author’s opinion, Turner’s replacement of the “textual record” metaphor in relation to fossils with the “investigative tool” metaphor is similar in meaning to the replacement of the “source” metaphor by the “evidence” metaphor that Collingwood produced in relation to historical initial data. Based on this, it is concluded that the similarity of the ideas of Turner and the classics of hermeneutics and the philosophy of history gives reason to believe that paleoaesthetics in the form proposed by Turner should be considered as one of the sections of hermeneutics and philosophy of history. Such an understanding of the place of paleoaesthetics in the world philosophical tradition, on the one hand, will contribute to the use of the achievements of the main trends in philosophy for the development of philosophical paleoaesthetics; on the other hand, turning to classical philosophical works will help to avoid doubling the meanings and building similar classical philosophical concepts about geological (paleontological) knowledge.