Interpretive Hermeneutics and Modifying the Modern Idea of Method

Abstract

A challenge currently facing human sciences researchers is recognizing the importance of creating a shared horizon of meaning in their work. To move towards this goal, researchers require an awareness of how their chosen conceptual framework creates a stricture through which they know and understand the individual. The methodological approach of philosophical interpretive hermeneutics emphasizes that what is learned from experience extends beyond the strictures of formalized method, thus offering a middle way of thinking in the research encounter. This article explores how interpretive hermeneutics can broaden the notion of research from one of simply knowing to one of understanding. It does so by engaging with Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics, where researchers strive to embrace a constellation of philosophical outlooks rather than a specific philosophical method. A key insight in research involving philosophical interpretive hermeneutics is its emphasis on human experience.