Hermeneutics and Deconstruction (SUNY Series, Selected Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy)

Hermeneutics And Deconstruction Provides An Assessment Of Two Dominant Modes Of Thinking And Writing In Continental Philosophy Today. It Addresses Central Issues In The Theory Of Interpretation And In The Strategies Of Textual Reading. Placed In The Context Of Contemporary Philosophical Practice, This Volume Raises The Question Of The “end” Of Philosophy And Offers Different Ways Of Understanding How The Question Of “closure” In Philosophy Can Itself Open Up A Whole Range Of Philosophical Activities. Special Attention Is Given To The Practice Of Interpretation In The Areas Of Science, Perception, And Literature, And To The Dimensions Of Hermeneutic Understanding With Respect To Being, Life, And The World. An Investigation Of How History Is Interpreted And Read As A Text Provides Access To One Of The Significant Differences Between Hermeneutic Understanding And Deconstructionist Practice. A Section Is Devoted To The Controversy Concerning The Value And The Achievement Of Deconstruction. The Writings Of Heidegger And Derrida Are Juxtaposed And Examined. And The Volume Concludes With Several Indications Of New Directions In Continental Philosophy And Various Versions Of What A Post-derridean Reading Might Entail. Part 1. The End Of Philosophy. The End Of 'the End Of Philosophy' / Bernd Magnus -- The End Of Philosophy: Three Historical Aphorisms / Thomas M. Seebohm -- Subjectivity And Praxis At The End Of Philosophy / Calvin O. Schrag -- Part 2. Hermeneutics And The Question Of Interpretation. Seeing And Reading: Aspects Of Their Connection / Graeme Nicholson -- Perception As A Hermeneutical Act / Patrick A. Heelan -- The Fabric Of Subjectivity / Vincent Descombes -- Part 3. Dimensions Of Hermeneutic Understanding. Hermeneutics And The History Of Being / Werner Marx -- Hermeneutics And The Meaning Of Life / Frithjof Rodi -- Hermeneutics Of The World / Michael Murray -- Part 4. Narrative Discourse And History. Life And The Narrator's Art / David Carr -- The Sound Of Songs: The Voice In The Text / Marc E. Blanchard -- Part 5. The Deconstruction Controversy. Deconstruction; Or The Mystery Of The Mystery Of The Text / Joseph Margolis -- The Pleasures In Postcards / Alphonso Lingis -- Quasi-metaphoricity And The Question Of Being / Rodolphe Gasché Part 6. Heidegger's Critique Of Derrida. From The Primordiality Of Absence To The Absence Of Primordiality / John D. Caputo -- Derrida And Heidegger / Thomas Sheehan -- Heidegger And Derrida Redux: A Close Reading / Nancy J. Holland -- Part 7. Post-derridean Reading. Abysses / Stephen H. Watson -- Binding Withdrawal / Gayle L. Ormiston -- If The Shoe Fits--derrida And The Orientation Of Thought / Dorothea Olkowski. Edited By Hugh J. Silverman And Don Ihde. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. 1985, trade paperback edition, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 309 pages. Excellent collection of essays and lectures on hermeneutics, a mode of thinking and writing in Continental Philosophy.