The Responsibility to Understand
Hermeneutical Contours of Ethical Life
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Edinburgh University Press
Published:30th May '22
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In The Responsibility to Understand, Theodore George explores the ethical dimensions of interpretation, emphasizing our responsibilities toward others and the world.
In The Responsibility to Understand, Theodore George delves into the intricate relationship between understanding and responsibility. He presents a compelling argument that highlights the unique sense of responsibility that emerges from our hermeneutical experiences—those moments when we interpret and make sense of the world around us. This exploration is not merely an academic exercise; it touches on fundamental aspects of our interactions with others, our environment, and the broader societal structures we inhabit.
George emphasizes the importance of hermeneutical responsibility in shaping our relationships with various entities, including animals, objects, and fellow human beings. He posits that understanding is not a passive act but an active engagement that carries ethical implications. This perspective invites readers to reconsider how they approach interpretation and the responsibilities that come with it, especially in contexts that demand solidarity and empathy.
Furthermore, The Responsibility to Understand examines the role of the arts, literature, and translation in fostering political solidarity and forming communal bonds. By weaving together these themes, George encourages a deeper reflection on how our interpretative practices can influence social cohesion and ethical responsibility. His insights challenge us to recognize the weight of our understanding and the responsibilities it entails in our interconnected world.
Theodore George’s book The Responsibility to Understand: Hermeneutical Contours of Ethical Life is a sensitive, thoughtful, and insightful invocation to rehabilitate connection and the relational capacity of our lives. This book not only invites an internal reflection of the ways I live in the world and keep in relationship to others in it, but it deeply connects to the work we do in practice professions. Like Gadamer, George offers us a sophisticated practice philosophy that resonates and coalesces with our human endeavours of understanding each other in the context of urgent social and global concerns and fundamental human experiences of suffering, pain, joy, loss, and love. -- Nancy J. Moules, University of Calgary * Journal of Applied Hermeneutics *
A sensitive, thoughtful, and insightful invocation to rehabilitate connection and the relational capacity of our lives. This book not only invites an internal reflection of the ways I live in the world and keep in relationship to others in it, but it deeply connects to the work we do in practice professions. Like Gadamer, George offers us a sophisticated practice philosophy that resonates and coalesces with our human endeavours of understanding each other in the context of urgent social and global concerns and fundamental human experiences of suffering, pain, joy, loss, and love. -- Nancy J. Moules, University of Calgary * Journal of Applied Hermeneutics *
George’s book is both excellent and illuminating [...] As a reader one feels guided by someone who wants to hold together multiple strands of thought and yet remain himself in the process. More than this, however, the reader is led by someone who has immersed himself in the works and words of the tradition, and someone who is at home there. -- Niall Keane * Research In Phenomenology *
In this excellent contribution to both ethics and hermeneutics, George offers a clear argument why present-day discussions on responsibility should engage with the insights of philosophical hermeneutics. The hermeneutic emphasis on understanding, as this study convincingly argues, is to be understood as a responsibility to understand. -- Gert-Jan van der Heiden, Radboud University
ISBN: 9781474467643
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
240 pages