Basic Problems in Hermeneutics

Philosophy, Art, Society

"Life has inherent meaning, but no inherent meaningfulness. The first is given it by virtue of all that had to occur in order for such a life to begin, exist, and itself pass onward. That I exist means all the rest of it; history, discourse, consciousness, evolution, creation and destruction alike. All of which is necessary to existence, and sufficient for its meaning to take hold. That said, at once we must make a distinction between meaning, all of which I inherit and of which I am made, and meaningfulness; that which I conjure for myself and what makes a life, rather than a mere existence. Meaning is provided for us; we must make our own meaningfulness. This singular challenge contains each of the forces present to both enact consciousness in the world, and to prevent local creation from impinging too bodily upon the fabric of creation itself. I imagine visions untold and as yet unknown, but the cosmos has already such vistas and in plenitude. I reconstruct my Promethean bequeathment, limning legacy and lustering language, but the world has within it all it ever needs. And just as the wider nature has no need of our species, so the nature of the world which worlds itself and onward, takes little occasion to note the oft too-precious perambulations of its vexed and vexing children." (From the book.)

This introduction to hermeneutics (the method by which we interpret the world's meaning and personal meaningfulness alike) outlines four major forms of modern interpretation, aligning them with four key objects: image, text, music, and world, resulting in both a manual and a masterwork.

Author Bio: G.V. Loewen is the author of almost 70 books, and was professor of the human sciences for over two decades.