Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-995ml Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T08:04:29.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Hermeneutics and Critical Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Michael N. Forster
Affiliation:
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Kristin Gjesdal
Affiliation:
Temple University, Philadelphia
Get access

Summary

Both Jürgen Habermas and Axel Honneth think Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics gives insufficient space for the operations of critical reflection. This chapter briefly explores the trajectory Max Horkheimer sets for the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory and then turns to the way Habermas and Honneth take up Critical Theory’s concerns in their engagement with Gadamer’s work. Habermas challenges what he sees as the precedence Gadamer gives to the authority of tradition over reason while Honneth challenges what he sees as the precedence Gadamer gives to the immediate experience of tradition over reflection on it in the light of generalized norms. Zammito: The discipline of history has had to struggle from the outset with the philosophical challenge to its status as a “science.” Hermeneutic historicism has been the most plausible basis for a consistent response to this challenge. In this chapter I trace the disciplinary constitution of history via hermeneutic historicism in the works of Johann Gottfried Herder, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Johann Gustav Droysen, and Wilhelm Dilthey. One of my objectives is to displace a conception of the rise of the discipline identified too closely with Leopold von Ranke, and instead to situate Droysen as the key theoretical progenitor of modern historical self-understanding and practice.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×