References Baudelsice, Charles (1964) Baudelaire as Literary Cri: Selected Essays, ‘wans. Lis Boe yop and Fanci. Hylop. University Park: Penasyva. ‘ia State University Press. ‘Becker, Howard 8. (1982) Art Worlds. Berkley: University of California Pres. Bourdicn, Pierre (1984) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of “Taste, trans. Richard Nice. London: Routledge 8 Kegan Paul Barger, Peter (1984) Theory ofthe Avant-Garde, tans. Michael Shaw. Man ‘chester: Manchester Univerty Pres. Clie, Mate (197) Fact of Modem, Art Garde, Decadence ‘Kitch, Bloomingsoa: Indiana Univesity Press. Gabli Suzanne (1964) Hat Modernism Fed? London: Thane & Hudson. Genes, Ernest (1983) Nations end Nationaiom. Oxford: Blackwell ‘Galle, Emes (1984) TeactatasSociologico-Pilosophicu, in 5. L Brown (eh) Objectaity and Calural Divergence, Royal latizte of Philosophy ‘Rubenstein (ed.) Modersisations The Huomamit Response to its Promise and Problems. Washington, D.C:: Paragon Howse. Kian Rowand E (195) The Onihtty of he Ave Gande and Osher (aderist Myths. Camber, of Contemporary abi, Francis (1971) Dados on Arte. Lucy R Lippard: Englewood Cliff: Prentice Hall ‘Sypher, Wylie (1960) Rococo to Cubism in Art and Literature. New York: "Vota. S.1 The Challenge of Hermeneutics (1978) [...] Hermeneutics (from the Greek herméneutilés, ‘related to ‘explaining’; ‘explaining’ is used here in the sense of ‘clarifying’, of ‘endering the sere pli, the unclear len wa for many cents a sub-discipline of philology. Since most of the texts considered essen- Sal inthe Chan world were avaliable ln courier vein, teanng traces of oppines and ssemmindednet tn an ends Chain ef anonymous copys, the question of aheniy, of the tro version yeu dette ones = onl wot but tarn imo major Concern of colar. Hermeneutic was ngaly developed oanet this question. Employing mostly philological methods, hermeneutics occopied eit with rite scrsny of coorending ety wth the owes ti ute eso te ve memo he oc ‘Stor att imate bjcure. Ar ee mage ecneng the tee meaning was scen as identical with demonstrating the authenticity of the text For cows reason, historiography wa the mow keen Sad (cl cea of hermeoeunce. Tres athe secth ceaury that hermeneutics cmerped fm relative obscurity and swiftly moved into the very centre of scholarly Ergurea, owed Hy sodden commence o te Cathe Protrat thee regarding the sohentc tex of he Bibles wie war under ‘stood as essentially the same problem, the true meaning of its mes- sage. The practical urgency of the matter, which had acquired much ime han merely technical roped hermeaeos in { cenval poucon inthe humanities, Phslopeal caer tected the most brilliant and creative historians and philosophers. Its prestige was boosted by an impressive series of unquestionable accomplish- ‘ments (going back to Lorenzo Valla) in exposing the falsity of docu- tmens ‘hone authetichy had’ no ecm dobeed for” cemerie126 Hermeneutics and Critical Theory Hermeneutics raised the extgue of historical sources 1 the rank of methodical scholarship. In this capacity ir became, and remained even ‘wen i nil motives lot moch oftheir urgency, an indispensable branch of hstoiography. Fr diferent, buc obvious aso, tech ‘al refinement has been luo prompeed by the juris” concern with thei interpretation of lw. ic was notin this capacity, howeves, that hermeneutics became a challenge tothe socal sciences in general, sociology in particulate. As long as the task of ‘clarifying’ which hermeneutics set for itself was. sh above ala arch fr he org doe mea of sources, hermeneutics was nightly viewed simply as a took, Iweves pret and indiapeasble A tool begs wo ste probes {it doesnot create them. By the end ofthe eighteemh century, however, a fateful shift took place. The philosophical reflection on the activity Sod rest of hermeneutics moved beyond the mere ctque of ex dnd began to ask dificult question about che nate and the object ives of historical knowledge as such; indeed, of socal knowledge in Sows and atthe beinning imperceptibly, the sens ancribed to the tananing sought by hermenentcal inquiry began to change The tas ‘alt with by carly hermeneutis were more often than ot anonyan Sox cen th ae asthe sch oy ited eoough weight of tr own through the centuries to render them lanely sutonomous from thir crear, The avaiable know: ledge ofthe ive ofthe potine or putative authors was onthe whale stl kw reliable than th extant texts themacvesy it could hardy Couture to ther carfcaton, An simowt tol coacearation on the tex tl asthe only ude tots meaning, was the mom vious ‘response. Pilogy, ater than psychology, Was the obvious fame ‘work forthe ques for auentcy. chaps more important sil was the esential harmony ofthe task so defined withthe coprtve predisposition ofthe era. The perception ‘ofthe author ashe letimate ‘owner of his ideas was only began to capture the imagination. Aras were sill regarded as craftnen {uid bythe anonymous rules of the gl rather than by thoroughly {ndividal and pevate’felings and visions. The middle ofthe eight ch century saw a genine revival ofclascal aesthetics ~ with ts phasis on the work of asl ies form and structure its harmony, is ferent logic and wer lack of erst in author's neatons To ‘WincKelmana, by far the most influential theor of the time, beauty thi innermost meaning ofthe work of art wat a mate of the inner proportions ofthe artistic product; the product could commun: ite no information beside that contained ini ished form. This Hermenentcs and Critical Theory 127 scsthetics had no room forthe personality ofthe author it considered tad any art which bore too visible an imprint of its author's in vidualty. Winckelmann’s theory of at, and indeed the enlightened ‘pinion of his time, saw eye ro eve with the credulous and over- enfidene pee-Kantian view of knowledge in general - as skilful but essentially unproblematic reflection ofthe world ‘as iti Kance discovery of the crucial role of the subject inthe process of all cognition (which itself came in the wake of the socio-political ‘stablishment ofthe individual asthe soe lawful owner of pertaining to his social identity) was soon followed by the discovery of the artist behind every work of at a thinking and feeling personality ‘bchind each creation. To find the meaning of a work of art, wrote ‘W.H, Wackenroder in 1797, onc has to contemplate the arist rather than his products, wo the point of ‘embracing all his characteristic individuality. Not much later, Novalis spoke confidendy ofthe “inner tmivers’ ofthe artist whose representation ofthe work of artis. In the words of Shelley, the artist turns ico the of the world ‘With personal freedom fast becoming the inviolable canon of the new aesthetics (as, indeed, of the dominant world-view of the new era}, there was litle point in searching for meaning in the text while neglecting the author. With authors repossesing their texts, readers ‘were denied the authority of thet jodgement. “The new image of the artist and his work (as, indeed, ofall human creation) was recorded in the intellectual history ofthe western world lunder the name of Romanticism. Though the artistic theories of Romanticism hardly outlived the imtense poctic and visual-artsic ‘movements they accompanied, they had lasting effects on the later developments ofthe socal sciences. ln particulas, they were instru- inthe fateful tansformation ofthe subject-matter and strategy fof hermenevtics. Te was a Romantic discovery that the work of art (ike human creation in general) was, above alla purposive sytem. The text, the Peintin, the sculpture came to be seen as visible embodiments of eas which, though represented inthe result, were aot exhausted by it. They were fully a home only within the artist's experience, and it was there they could be discovered, if they could be discovered at all. ‘The work of art seemed suddenly less important a8 a reflection of realty ‘out there’ than as a reflection of a design ofthe author, his thoughts and emotions. tt became evident thatthe genuine meaning of the text could not be found by immanent analysis. One had t0 80 eyo htt Lt she re ening fh shoud de i, the reader must plumb the impenetrable depe ofthe author’ spiritual ‘perience inthis ello the Fade could mot be pide by hard and128 Hermeneutics and Critical Theory fast rules. There are few laws of uniformity inthe act of creation; the ‘work of art acquires its value from the individuality, uniqueness, ireegularty of the experience from which its born. Unless the reader ‘was capable of similar experience, the meaning of art would forever ‘remain for him a closed book. To grasp the meaning, the reader had to ‘employ his imagination, and be sure that his imagination is rich and flexible enough to be truly commensurate with that of the artist. “To remain true to its task, hermeneutics had now to extend its lice meaning tthe tere Ths tex elf cul onl sr the ade _as to the plausibility of his interpretation; it could not offer conclusive roo! tthe che had teen igloo cold enable ‘rent wea iy aoe cal at sea ‘ yo pawns’ ofnerpecstons. The wel ot puligy wo aged tthe ost of fence coal nt side when rel hsnog wes pervved tobe fated somewhere ‘beneath’ the text proper, of an entirely different nature from the text eed eT: dare as the twentieth century, in the shadow of the tsumphs of natural Science’ (Giddens, 1976, p. 12). These trimphs were spectacular ‘mination and explanatory power aleady yielded up bythe sciences of nature’ (Giddens, 1976, p. 13). “The visible achievements of natural science were too headstrong and intoxicating for their enthusiasts to waste time in hole-picking (f,indeed, in reflecting upon the suitability of the natural scientists? ‘approach for the study of social Ife. Neither was the time propitious (at any rate atthe beginning) for meditating on the exact nature and. inerinsic limits of the “scieniGe method” as such; philosophers of ‘science came nowhere near the level of subtlety and self-awareness reached much later by philosophers of science like Bachelard or Hermeneutics and Critical Theory 129 Popper. This was an age of exuberance, and the optimistic seltimage which befits such an age did no allow for obstacles to human mastery fver the world other than those temporarily erected by the sinfl sluggishness of human inventiveness and ingenviy. ‘One feature revealed by even the most superficial look at the naturabacientfc success story was the spectacular absence in the ‘centfie accoumes of the category of ‘purpose’. Natural science gra- dually developed 3 language in which exhaustive accounts could be fiven without any reference to ‘will, ‘purpose’, intention’. This ew ‘ualiry of scientific language had Been expressed by Comte a the Supercession of the “theological” ot ‘metaphysical’ by the ‘postive the many who were unawate of Comste's terminology would speak of the triumph of secular sobriety over religious illusion. Not that the ‘natural scientist had to be an agnostic in order £0 produce scientific ‘results bat his results were sienific in so far at they talked about ‘what had to happen’ and left no room for an essentially voluntaristic “divine purpose which n principle, could deprive phenomena oftheir ‘observed and recorded regularity. Natural scence could be defined almost by the absence of miracles and indeed, of anything bizarre and extraordinary, suggestive of a conscious, deliberative, scheming ‘and mending subject. In this approach the “understanding” of phe= ‘nomena collapsed into “explaining”. Without ‘meaning’ inthe sense of ‘purpose, ‘understanding’ i. the intellectual grasp of the logic of ‘was one with their ‘explanation, ie. the demonstration ‘Of the general rules and specific conditions which made the occurrence ‘of given phenomena inevitable, Only this kind of “understanding® Seemed compatible with a science of society aspiring t0 emulate the ‘magnificent accomplishments ofthe scence of nature. "To this emerging concept of a “natural sccace ofthe soca’, her- mencutics, inspired by the Romantic vision of creation, presented serious challenge. Indeed, it questioned the very possibilty chat we ould cleanse our knowledge of the social by taking away the con- sideration of purpose. Tree, we ought to stop the vain search for ‘design’ and ‘objective’ in nature: if there was such a design and such an objective, it would not be ours, human, i the first place ~ and thus it was futile to hope that we would ever be able 0 grasp i This, however, doesnot apply to human affairs. Here the presence of design and objectives is unquestionable. Men and worca do what they do on purpose. Socal phenomena, since they are ultimately acs ‘of men and women, demand tobe understood in a different way than ‘by mere explaining, Understanding them must contain an clement ‘missing from the explaining of natural phenomena: the retneval of purpore, of intention, of the unique configuration of thoughts and