Gadamer and Ricoeur: Critical Horizons for Contemporary Hermeneutics

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Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur were two of the most important hermeneutical philosophers of the twentieth century. Gadamer single-handedly revived hermeneutics as a philosophical field with his many essays and his masterpiece, Truth and Method. Ricoeur famously mediated the Gadamer-Habermas debate and advanced his own hermeneutical philosophy through a number of books addressing social theory, religion, psychoanalysis and political philosophy. This book brings Gadamer and Ricoeur into a hermeneutical conversation with each other through some of their most important commentators. Twelve leading scholars deliver contemporary assessments of the history and promise of hermeneutical philosophy, providing focused discussion on the work of these two key hermeneutical thinkers. The book shows how the horizons of their thought at once support and question each other and how, in many ways, the work of these two pioneering philosophers defines the issues and agendas for the new century.

Reviews

All [of the essays] make interesting reading both for those familiar with the work of Gadamer and Ricoeur and for those who want to become better acquainted with it. In this regard, the editors have accomplished their goal of reminding readers of the value of Gadamer's and Ricoeur's philosophical work and its relevance for contemporary philosophical thinking. -- Notre Dame Philosophy Review
... stands out as being not only an easily accessible work but also offering a challenging overview while having more than enough depth to entice the reader into further explorations into the hermeneutical 'way of life' It should certainly be suitable, therefore, as a standalone companion to hermeneutics for (under)graduates while still offering enough interesting and challenging ideas to specialists in the (broad hermeneutical) field. -- Ethical Perspectives Vol. 18

Author Bio

Francis J. Mootz III is William S. Boyd Professor of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. His publications include Law, Hermeneutics and Rhetoric (Ashgate, forthcoming 2010), Rhetorical Knowledge in Legal Practice and Critical Legal Theory (University of Alabama Press, 2006) and On Philosophy in American Law (CUP, 2009). George H. Taylor is Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He is the editor of Paul Ricoeur's Lectures on Ideology and Utopia (Columbia University Press, 1986).