Hermeneutics (AP9600P)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

This unit explores issues in hermeneutics from a philosophical perspective, keeping in mind the engagement of that perspective with the theological in the interpretation of biblical and other texts. Following a survey of traditional hermeneutic models, the unit addresses modern developments, considering Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer and Ricoeur, and the contributions of structuralists, poststructuralists and others, while engaging the following questions: What meanings of the term "hermeneutics" link antiquity to modernity? What accounts of truth and meaning emerge from the definitions of hermeneutics that modern philosophy has sequentially offered? Included here are issues of how textual meaning might be authoritatively determined, and whether an adequate "explanation of explanation" is to be had.

Unit code: AP9600P

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Articulate fundamental issues attending textual interpretation.
2.

Distinguish modern interpretive approaches from traditional methods
3.

Discuss the particular challenges confronting biblical interpretation
4.

Identify a range of interpretive approaches to texts
5.

Critically discuss the relationship between theological stances and interpretive approaches
6.

Develop a written argument for an interpretive approach to a text or texts

Unit sequence

undergraduate philosophical studies, or comparable literary or cultural studies.

Pedagogy

Lectures and Tutorials; Online module with guided online discussion fora.

Indicative Bibliography

  1. Bleicher, Josef (ed). Contemporary Hermeneutics: Hermeneutics as Method, Philosophy, and Critique. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980
  2. Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008.
  3. Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and Method. Trans. Willliam Glen Doepel. 2nd Ed. London: Sheed and Ward, 1979.
  4. Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time: A Translation of Sein and Zeit. Trans. Joan Stambaugh. Albany, NY: SUNY, 1996.
  5. Jasper, David. A Short Introduction to Hermeneutics. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004.
  6. Jensen, Alexander S. Theological Hermeneutics. London: SCM Press, 2007.
  7. Mueller- Vollmer, Kurt (ed).The Hermeneutics Reader. New York: Continuum, 2006.
  8. Palmer, Richard E. Hermeneutics: Interpretation Theory in Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, and Gadamer. Chicago: Northwestern 9. University Press, 1969. (recommended for purchase).
  9. Schneiders, S.M. The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Scripture. San Francisco: Harper, 1991.
  10. Schmidt, Lawrence K. Understanding Hermeneutics. Stocksfield, UK: Acumen, 2006.
  11. Wilson, Barrie A (compiler). About interpretation: from Plato to Dilthey: A Hermeneutic Anthology. New York: Peter Lang, 1989.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

Essay 1 (3500 words)

 3500 50.0
Essay

Essay 2 (3500 words), following prior presentation at seminar of 2700 word draft of the essay*.

*Seminar presentation of draft [clarity of presentation plus leadership of subsequent discussion to be assessed (40% of assessment for this essay)]; followed by submission of the written-up essay, assessed as a written piece of work (60%).

**Where a seminar quorum is unavailable, a 1-hour "presentation+discussion" of the draft essay with the lecturer (unassessed) will take the place of the seminar, with 100% assessment allocated the final version, as for Essay 1.

 3500 50.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Maggie Kappelhoff on 20 Sep, 2021

Unit record last updated: 2021-09-20 14:01:40 +1000