Publication Details
Paul Ricoeur: The Problem of Interpretation and Understanding
Abstract
The aim of the paper is the analysis of the hermeneutical project and its task as suggested by Paul Ricœur. First, it deals with the changes of the concept of understanding and interpretation after the hermeneutical turn, which was started in Heidegger’s Being and Time. This change shifted this problem from the epistemological field to the fundamental ontology. According to Paul Ricœur, this turn caused that the gap between epistemology and ontology deepened. This should be overcome by Ricœur’s solution. Ricœur starts his investigation with the analysis of language, which allows him to communicate with the structural analysis. Ricœur tries to show, how the concept of understanding can be connected with scientific method. Paradoxically, this leads to the restoration of the subject-object scheme.