Robert J. Dostal, "Gadamer's Hermeneutics: Between Phenomenology and Dialectic" (Northwestern UP, 2022)

Feb 7, 2023

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ANECDOTE

Dostal’s Academic Background

Robert J. Dostal taught philosophy at Bryn Mawr College for over 40 years and covered the full history of philosophy and ethics.
His research focused on modern and contemporary German thought, especially Heidegger and Gadamer.

INSIGHT

Gadamer’s Complex Stance On Enlightenment

Gadamer objects that Enlightenment thought is overly subjectivistic and reduces knowledge to representations of things rather than things themselves.
He nonetheless embraces Enlightenment achievements like modern science and democracy while critiquing its rejection of tradition and rhetoric.

INSIGHT

Solidarity As The Basis Of Politics

Gadamer centers solidarity and civic friendship as the foundation for good politics rather than explicit partisan doctrine.
He argues conversation and dialogue cultivate the civic bonds necessary for working toward the common good.

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In Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: Between Phenomenology and Dialectic (Northwestern University Press, 2022), Robert J. Dostal provides a comprehensive and critical account of Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutical philosophy, arguing that Gadamer’s enterprise is rooted in the thesis that “being that can be understood is language.” He defends Gadamer against charges of linguistic idealism and emphasizes language’s 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 concept of the "inner word" for Gadamer’s account of language.

The book situates Gadamer’s 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 Gadamer’s reading of Plato and Aristotle. Dostal explores both Gadamer’s claim on the Enlightenment and his ambivalence toward it. He considers Gadamer’s dependence on Heidegger’s accomplishment while pointing out the ways in which Gadamer charted his own course, rejecting his teacher’s reading of Plato and his antihumanism. Dostal points out notable differences in the philosophers’ politics as well. Finally, Dostal mediates between Gadamer’s hermeneutics and what might be called philological hermeneutics. His analysis defends the civic humanism that is the culmination of the philosopher’s hermeneutics, a humanism defined by moral education, common sense, judgment, and taste. Supporters and critics of Gadamer’s philosophy will learn much from this major achievement.

ROBERT J. DOSTAL is the Rufus M. Jones Professor of Philosophy at Bryn Mawr College. He is the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Gadamer.

Reuben Niewenhuis is interested in philosophy, theory, technology, and interdisciplinary topics.

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