Short notes on Hermeneutics and Phenomenology

Textual verse with diacritics and citation, analyzing how Hermeneutics can be applied

Sasikala Challa Tadepalli

Department of Kuchipudi, University of Silicon Andhra

GKD 506: Research Methodology

Dr. Anupama Kylash

Nov 11, 2023

 Short notes on Hermeneutics and Phenomenology

Hermeneutics and Phenomenology are tools in critical academic research in the interpretive

paradigm. Phenomenology is the study of direct and conscious experience of thoughts and ideas

while hermeneutics is the study of interpretation of ideas and texts.

Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is the study and the philosophy of interpretation. In the field of arts,

philosophy, theology and humanities, hermeneutics plays an important part in interpreting the

intentions, beliefs, and experiences of others through their works or ideas.

Hermeneutics enables us to establish the scope of interpretation and the validity of the

interpretative experience. It is a wholistic approach that helps us understand a given phenomenon

from various perspectives by breaking down the whole (idea or text) into parts that can be stitched

back together into a new, larger whole. The context of the work is very important and it is known to

be ‘unlimited’. Understanding the context of a word used in a text may require linguistic knowledge

which in turn assumes cultural knowledge which requires historical context which might need

geographical knowledge, and so on.

This suggests that the expressions of experience and context need to be studied. First, the

interpretive experience of understanding the meaning within the context of experience is

established. The success of this depends on educative nature of the interpretation. Education is the

acquisition of knowledge and the enlargement of that knowledge as it was previously known, and

the enlargement of the experience of the person(s) seeking the knowledge in the context of

themselves and the world around them. The final interpretation needs to inform others on the

original idea along with any alternative ideas the interpreter might have on the original idea.

The methodology used to acquire this knowledge, is known to be circular. The Hermeneutics

Circle is a tool that helps break the whole of the idea or text into parts that can be independently
interpreted and brought back into context for an interpretation of the whole. This is in sharp

contrast to an unidirectional ‘vertical’ interpretation of knowledge. While many perspectives of

interpretation come from a foundation of one’s beliefs, hermeneutics calls for a constant revaluation

of these beliefs and the context of these beliefs. The foundations can thus continually shift based on

the understanding of the context. This gives rise to the circularity of interpretation where knowledge

can be renewed by exploring further possible interpretations of the so-called foundational beliefs.

This leads to the concept of whole and parts, where the sum of the parts is not necessarily, in fact

not certainly, equal to the whole. It is equally important to understand an idea, or a literary work, in

its whole, while deriving new interpretations through the parts. Hence, using the Hermeneutics

Circle, one continually moves between the smaller and larger units of meaning to arrive at the overall

interpretation.

In addition to understanding a whole through its parts, interpretation itself can be looked

upon as an art form. Linguistic, grammatical and psychological contexts can inform each other’s

perspectives, while the person(s) performing the interpretation can being in their unique

perspectives, making it an art onto itself.

Modern developments of realism and normative dimensions of the interpretive experience

have applied hermeneutics to philosophy of existence, self-interpretation and that of time. This

drives new areas of study in humanism and art, and the validity of truth and experience. Thus, an

interesting area of impact could be how tradition and language influence prejudice and thus

interpretation of truth. Apart from language itself, linguistic forms such as metaphors, symbols, and

narratives (like proverbs) also form the self-understanding of human experience. This can be

overcome using tools such as the repetitive cycle of interpretation through these parts.

There is a danger that these methods might take the researchers into a recursive exploration

that may never end. Deconstruction and critical theory can stand to lose if guardrails are not put

around this hermeneutical circle of exploration. Also, hermeneutics and the concept of constant
change in understanding leaves little room for dissent and argumentative discussions with a loss in

practical interpretation. Focusing on the educative success and not on the ideological success can

help narrow the recursive process of hermeneutics.

Phenomenology

Phenomenology is the study of subjective conscious experience, through physical sensations

and significance of objects, concepts and peoples. Phenomenology studies the structure of

experiences including perception, thought, memory, imagination, desire, emotion, awareness, and

action.

It is based on research by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger in the 20th century CE and

aims to study reality as experienced through our senses, understanding consciousness in its true

form using first hand subjective experience. This is in sharp contrast to the rationalist, who might

look at a concept in pure scientific terms. For example, a rationalist might define time in seconds,

minutes and hours whereas phenomenology may define time with respect to how one may

experience time with respect to another object (running in hot sun) or another person (spending

time with a loved one). Essentially, it describes an objective process to study subjective experience.

One way to study subjective experiences is to understand the intentionality of the

phenomenon being studied. Intentionality postulates that consciousness must almost always be

about something, in relation to and in interaction to the contents of experiences. Study of these

aspects of intentionality such as perception, memory, retention, and significance of consciousness is

one way to understand the experiences.

One methodology used for understanding consciousness is bracketing or phenomenological

reduction, where the phenomenon being studied is reduced to its rawest experience. This enables

the conscious experience to focus on the core phenomenon. Another method called the Eidetic

reduction attempts to find essence of the phenomenon. In this method, the researcher would vary
all possible attributes to understand the basic essence or the imaginary variation of the

phenomenon. This process can get us to the universal essence of such types of phenomenon,

leading towards a knowledge of essences. Contrary to this, existential phenomenology postulates

that context cannot be separated from experience, and there cannot be one underlying essence.

Many types of phenomenological experiences are available for us to explore, including

temporal, spatial, attention, self-awareness, embodied action, purpose of action, awareness of

others, linguistic awareness, and social interaction. This study of experience is closer to the Eastern

areas of philosophy like the chakra system and meditation (2021, The Living Philosophy).

The challenge is studying the first-person experience is that experience is often not recorded

while it is being felt. This is hence a reflection after the phenomenon has been experienced.

However, the familiarity of common experiences can be studied and characterized. This enables us

to connect the experiences and describe them in relation to other areas of interpretive research in

the following ways:

1. Interpret experience by relating to the context. This is closely related to hermeneutics

2. Analyze the form or type of the experience

3. Specify truth conditions to limit the context of the experience

4. Complement with neuroscientific experiments

The study of experiences is related to other areas of philosophy including ontology (study of

what is, what is real and of being), epistemology (how we know and study of knowledge), logic (how

we reason and study of valid reasoning) and ethics (how we should act given a set of knowledge and

study of right and wrong).

Applying Hermeneutics to a Verse

For this exercise, I picked a famous poem by Bommera Pothana. Cited by my mother CAS

Lakshmi, this is a poem from the Prahalāda Caritam skanda of the poet’s Śrimad Bhāgavatam.
 iṁdu galaḍaṁdu leḍani

saṁdehambu valadu cakri sarvopagatunḍu

endenḍu vedaki jūcinā

andanḍe galaḍu dānavāgraņi vinṭe ||

Using the hermeneutics circle, the poem can be translated loosely based on the

understanding of the language and context. Since I have personally heard this poem a few times

since my childhood, I have a good understanding of the story and the setting for the verse. This fact,

in of itself, forms a basis for how the interpretation may be approached. The meaning of the first

draft of the whole may be inherent in its familiarity. As we go into the parts, each word can now be

translated for its actual meaning. Interestingly, none of the words are new, except for their diction.

A few nuances also come to the fore, including terms like cakri and dānavāgraņi. These are distinct

references to Viṣņu and Hiraņyakaśpa as the one who holds the discus and the one who is the king of

the asurās respectively. Does this form the whole or the part, that I understand the reference of

these words?

The language used is also another facet of interpretation, where the meaning is relevant in

the modern times as well as when it was written. The context of the story is of course a great factor

in understanding the poem. The poem, which is a part of the whole work, can be used as a basis to

explore the entire chapter or the work, to understand the various monikers used for the two

protagonists. Did the work propagate these monikers to mainstream understanding or vice versa?

This method of interpretation takes us closer to the historical and linguistic context of the

poem and also shows the cultural importance of the poem.

References

Smith, David Woodruff, "Phenomenology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2018

Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL =

<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2018/entries/phenomenology/>.
George, Theodore, "Hermeneutics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2021 Edition),

Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/hermeneutics/>.

What is Phenomenology. The Living Philosophy. 2021. URL =

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvA9FxsM9G8>.

The hermeneutic circle. 2017. Leiden University – Faculty of Humanities. URL =

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIEzc__BBxs>.

Kylash, Anupama. 2023. Class Notes: GKD 506