Hermeneutics and Phenomenology

Geniusas and Fairfield have assembled an exceptional collection that frames a key problem about the relation between hermeneutics and phenomenology, and reopens this topic on multiple fronts. Indeed, I have the highest praise for this volume. Its contribution could, perhaps, never have been more timely than today. * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews * Although central to the development of twentieth century European thought, the relation between hermeneutics and phenomenology has been surprisingly little addressed. Under the direction of Fairfield and Geniusas, the contributors to this volume do an important service in opening up the issues at stake here. Combining historical reflection with contemporary analysis, offering a broad range of topics and approaches, and including essays by many of the key figures across both fields, the volume offers a rich source of material for students and researchers alike. * Jeff Malpas, Distinguished Professor, University of Tasmania, Australia * This extended comparison of hermeneutics and phenomenology lets the reader see afresh what is specific to each current, and how they have interacted and pulled apart. The editors have assembled thorough treatments of the most famous advocates of both schools, but also with generous treatments of less prominent philosophers from the 19th to the 21st Century. In carrying this project out, the book treats the central questions of philosophy: historical thinking vs. systematic reason; realism vs. idealism; the hermeneutical circle and the scientific method; the relation of philosophy to art, literature and religion. The excellent articles, by over a dozen authors, are accurate in exposition and documentation. * Graeme Nicholson, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto, Canada *