Interpretation - A Critical Primer - Nathan Eric Dickman

Interpretation - A Critical Primer - Nathan Eric Dickman

The Predicaments of Interpretation

Interpretation - A Critical Primer - Nathan Eric Dickman

Nathan Eric Dickman [+-]
University of the Ozarks
Nathan Eric Dickman (PhD, The University of Iowa) is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of the Ozarks. He researches in hermeneutic phenomenology, philosophy of language, and comparative questions in philosophies of religions, with particular concerns about global social justice issues in ethics and religions. He has taught a breadth of courses, from Critical Thinking to Zen, and Existentialism to Greek & Arabic philosophy. His book titled "Using Questions to Think" (Bloomsbury, 2021) examines the roles questions play in critical thinking and reasoning, his book titled "Philosophical Hermeneutics and the Priority of Questions in Religions" (Bloomsbury, 2022) examines the roles questions play in religious discourse, and his book titled "Interpretation: A Critical Primer" (Equinox, 2023) examines the role of questions in the interpretation of texts.

Description

Chapter One, The Predicaments of Interpretation, will examine the situation or predicament of interpretation. Why do we interpret at all? How do we know when we have interpreted rather than, say, explained something? What determines the “correct” interpretation, if there is such a thing as correct or incorrect interpretations? This last question forms the core of this chapter. We will see that previous attempts to address the question have isolated three primary options: the writer’s intention, the reader’s response, or the text itself. I propose, alternatively, that questions take priority in interpretation, which will relate to semantics as we noted above. It takes a question to transform a sentence perceived into a complete thought or sense understood. This chapter also surveys a number of contestations in the hermeneutics of sacred texts, frameworks that go beyond the writer, reader, and text, such as broader historical context, the establishment of (in)complete canons, literary genres, and more. In this light, another topic that informs the situation or predicament of interpretation is the location of the humanities in differentiation from natural sciences and fine arts in academia.

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Citation

Dickman, Nathan Eric. The Predicaments of Interpretation. Interpretation - A Critical Primer. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 19-41 Aug 2023. ISBN 9781800503373. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=43479. Date accessed: 29 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.43479. Aug 2023

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