Critical hermeneutics

Kurt C.M. Mertel

Chapter 26 in Research Handbook on Critical Theory, 2026, pp 287-299 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The origins of critical hermeneutics can be traced to the famous debate between Hans-Georg Gadamer and Jürgen Habermas that took place in the mid-1960s, which involved a confrontation between philosophical hermeneutics and critical theory. This chapter first reconstructs this original debate, which addresses the acceptance of prejudices versus critical reflection, the impact of social and economic power of tradition, and the philosophical possibility to reconstruct a tradition-transcendent reference point for science and critique. It then turns to Paul Ricoeur, who attempts to overcome such dichotomies by initiating a turn towards critical hermeneutics. This is followed by Hans-Herbert Kögler's approach, which develops a systematic account of interpretive agency, including a sense of power-defined backgrounds and intentional reflexive self-understanding. The chapter ends with highlighting current applications of critical hermeneutics, which trace reflexive agency in contexts of power, while indicating some possible future lines of research in the process.

Keywords: Hermeneutics; Critical Theory; Critical Hermeneutics; Habermas; Gadamer; Ricoeur; Kögler (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781800373754
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781800373761.00032 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:20101_26

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().