Hermeneutisches Wissen

Based on Hans-Georg Gadamer's own critique of Truth and Method , Tobias Keiling develops a Philosophical Hermeneutics 'after Gadamer'. Its theoretical focus in Part One is the question what follows from Gadamer's emphasis on the dialogical and historical nature of understanding for questions of epistemology. Discussing Gettier's critique of the standard theory of knowledge and contemporary debates around epistemic virtue, Keiling sketches ideas for a specific hermeneutical epistemology. In Part Two, Keiling engages with contemporary positions: Gumbrecht's discussion of latent meaning, Bredekamp's theory of image-acts, and Boehm's hermeneutics of images open onto a hermeneutic theory of imagination. Figal, Koch, and Gabriel invite reflections on hermeneutic realism. In Part Three, different applications show the import of Keiling's approach: Gerhard Richter's Betty invites reflection about the ethics of vulnerability. Buildings by Peter Zumthor and Alexander Schwarz allow to develop a hermeneutics of architecture. Engaging with Lear, Chakrabarty, and Toadvine, Keiling sketches a critical hermeneutics of the Anthropocene. In each case, Gadamer's hermeneutics is shown to be as indispensable as it is problematic.