Module

G11/12-DISS-MELC 5.5 8
HERMENEUTICAL PHENOMENOLOGY: Week
ANALYZE SIGNIFICANCE OF DATA 13-14
I What I Need to Know?

As senior high school students specializing on Humanities and Social Sciences

(HUMSS), our learning experiences take us into a deeper involvement with social
relations. We become more conscious of what is happening around us. We take stand to
certain social issues, and embrace challenges by giving our point of views.

By studying hermeneutical phenomenology approach in social sciences, we

might be able to appreciate better how we form our perspectives. We will learn how our
experiences can be a good tool to develop self-reflection and self-understanding as we
live with other people is a society. As such, through this lesson, we would immerse
ourselves into a way of dealing with our point of views in a more systematic manner.
The way we understand social phenomenon is based on how we interpret it.

At the end of the module, you should be able to:

1. identify the origin of Hermeneutical Phenomenology, including its major
proponents and their views;
2. determine the parts and process of doing Hermeneutical Phenomenology;
3. analyze a given phenomenon using Hermeneutical Phenomenology.

D What I Know?
Task 1: PRE-TEST

Direction: Read and analyze each statement and identify what is asked or described in
each statement. Choose your answer from the given choices.

1. It is defined as a scientific body of knowledge that deals with the study of human
societies and the human relationship within such societies.
A. Social Science C. Hermeneutics
B. Phenomenology D. Hermeneutical Phenomenology

2. It refers to the interpretation of our lived-experiences as human person – whether it is

a personal experience or our social experience inasmuch as we are personally involved
into this social experience.
A. Social Science C. Hermeneutics
B. Phenomenology D. Hermeneutical Phenomenology

3. It refers to the science and art of interpretation including the interpretation of

linguistic text, human experience and social phenomenon to capture its meaning.
A. Social Science C. Hermeneutics
B. Phenomenology D. Hermeneutical Phenomenology

4. It refers to the characteristics of the data as it appears in the consciousness / as

experience by the person.
A. Interpretation C. Explanation
B. Understanding D. Description

5. It refers to the outward cognitive expression of the description, meaning and

understanding of the interpreted data.
A. Interpretation C. Explanation
B. Understanding D. Description

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D What is It?

Hermeneutical Phenomenology
Origin
Hermeneutics is the science and art of interpretation including the
interpretation of linguistic text, human experience and social phenomenon
to capture its meaning. As an art, hermeneutics is a kind of method that
extracts the meaning through interpretation. As a science, hermeneutics is
a body of theories of interpretation that explain the meaning of a linguistic
text, human experience or social phenomenon. Friedrich Schleiermacher
(1768-1834) is considered the Father of Modern Hermeneutics.
Phenomenology is literally the study of phenomenon. This phenomenon
refers to any human experience as experienced by a person. In a technical
sense, phenomenology is the study of the fundamental structure of human
experience in the first-person perspective. The core structure of experience
is called “intentionality” – it is the consciousness of something. Hence,
intentionality means every experience is always an experience of something
– that is, experience is always directed to an object. For instance, when I
say “I have an experience” – it means that “I experience something”. When a
person is conscious of his/her experience, it is called lived-experience.
Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) is considered the Father of Phenomenology.
Nature Hermeneutical phenomenology happens when we move from the
description of an experience into interpretation of the experience. In other
words, in describing our experiences, we use phenomenology; but when we
start to interpret the meaning of those descriptions of our experiences,
then we are now doing hermeneutics, or simply to say hermeneutical
phenomenology. Hermeneutical phenomenology is the interpretation of our
lived-experiences as human person – whether it is a personal experience
or our social experience inasmuch as we are personally involved into this
social experience.
Proponents Martin Hans-Georg Emmanuel
Paul Ricoeur
Heidegger (1889- Gadamer Levinas (1906-
(1913-2005)
1976) (1900-2002) 1995)
Contributions Heidegger asserts For Gadamer, Levinas focuses in Ricoeur asserts
that Hermeneutical one important the ethical and that the
phenomenology is a task of phenomenological connection
method in which hermeneutical side of between the
we are able to phenomenology is hermeneutical human self and
explore the basic to provide a basis phenomenology, human language
structure and or ground for our emphasizing would result to
composition of understanding of relationality and self-
human person a phenomenon, intersubjectivity – understanding.
(Dasein) as a being not just merely that is, human
living in the word the interpretation relation with the The main goal of
with other human of it. Other. hermeneutical
persons. phenomenology is
When language For him, the way to develop self-
The interpretation or text and the we interpret and understanding in
of the meaning of interpreter of the understand the relation to other
this structure and text converged, it meaning of a human persons
composition of a would result into human person is through the
human person- understanding of captured in the interpretation of
living-in-the-world- the phenomenon context of his the symbolic
with-others is described in the ethical and social language
expressed through text. phenomenon with imbedded in this
language. “other human relationship.
persons”.

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 Hermeneutical Phenomenology as a Process of Analysis

Basic Elements of
The basic elements of hermeneutical phenomenology are the
Hermeneutical
following: (1) Data: Lifeworld which composed of human
Phenomenology language, lived-experience and social phenomenon, (2)
Hermeneutical Analysis, (3) Phenomenological Description;
and (4) Lived-Experiential Interpretation.

Hermeneutic- Hermeneutical phenomenology as a process of analysis is

Phenomenological called “Hermeneutic-Phenomenological Circle” which
Circle composed of: Data, Description, Meaning, Interpretation,
Understanding and Explanation.

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 E What’s More?
Task 2: VENN DIAGRAM

Direction: Compare hermeneutics, phenomenology and hermeneutical phenomenology

by identifying their characteristics.

Task 3: WHO SAYS WHAT…

Direction: Write the contributions of the proponents of hermeneutical phenomenology.

Proponents Contributions
Martin
1. _______________________________________________________________
Heidegger:
2. _______________________________________________________________
Hans-Georg
1. _______________________________________________________________
Gadamer:
2. _____________________________________________________________
Emmanuel 1. _____________________________________________________________
Levinas:
2. _____________________________________________________________
Paul Ricoeur: 1. _____________________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________________

My comment/s:
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.

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 E What can I Engage In?
Task 4: APPLYING THE ANALYSIS

Directions: Analyze the message of the picture in the center. From our lesson above, do
the hermeneutical-phenomenological analysis by writing the corresponding answer in
the space provided inside the box.

A What I have Learned?

Task 5: EXIT VISA: 3-2-1 CHART

EXIT VISA
Task: 3-2-1 chart

Have you learned so much from this module? Let us check the level of your
understanding through 3-2-1 chart.

3 best things I learned today:

1. _____________________________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________________________

2 things that caught my interest:

1. ____________________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________________

1 thing that I wanted to learn more about:

1. _____________________________________________________________________________________

A What I can Do?

Task 6: POST-TEST

A. True or False. Write T if the statement is true and F if the statement is false.

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_____1. In the process of hermeneutical analysis, we have to describe the phenomenon
as the way it appears in our consciousness, in order to get the meaning of it.
_____2. In hermeneutical phenomenology, our description of the phenomenon is
transformed into interpretation of the meaning of the phenomenon.
_____3. One of the strengths of hermeneutical phenomenology is the person is about to
validate the truth of the interpretation of other people using his first person
perspective about the phenomenon.
_____4. One of the weaknesses of hermeneutical phenomenology is that the person has
the certainty of his/her experiences because it occurred in the first person
point of view.
_____5. Social science is a scientific body of knowledge that deals with the study of
human societies and the human relationship within such societies.

B. Identification: Identify the term/concept being defined in the given statements.

For Nos. 6-10:
Description Explanation Understanding
Meaning Interpretation

_____________6. It refers to the formulation or formation of the structure and

composition comprising the meaning of data.
_____________7. It refers to the inward sense of the characteristics and features of the
data as captured from the experience of a person.
_____________8. It refers to the outward cognitive expression of the description, meaning
and understanding of the interpreted data.
_____________9. It refers to the characteristics of the data as it appears in the
consciousness / as experience by the person.
_____________10. It refers to the essential features retained in the person out of the
interpretation of the meaning of the data.

C. Identification: Identify the proponents of the following contributions/concepts in

hermeneutical phenomenology.
For Nos. 11-15:
Heidegger Levinas Schleiermacher
Gadamer Ricoeur Husserl

_____________11. When language or text and the interpreter of the text converged, it
would result into understanding of the phenomenon described in the
text.
_____________12. The way we interpret and understand the meaning of a human person
is captured in the context of his ethical and social phenomenon with
“other human persons”.
_____________13. Intentionality in every experience is always an experience of something
– that is, experience is always directed to an object.
_____________14. Hermeneutical phenomenology is a method in which we are able to
explore the basic structure and composition of human person
(Dasein) as a being living in the word with other human persons.
_____________15. The main goal of hermeneutical phenomenology is to develop self-
understanding in relation to other human persons through the
interpretation of the symbolic language imbedded in this
relationship.