"WHAT CAN YOU SAY?

"
HERMENEUTICA
PHENOMENOLOGY
L
Hermeneutics is the theory and
methodology of interpretation,
especially the interpretation of
biblical texts, wisdom
literature, and philosophical
texts.
HERMENEUTICS
• This is also the branch of knowledge that deals with
interpretation, especially of the Bible or literary texts.

• The primary need of Hermeneutics is to determine

and understand the meaning of Biblical text.
HERMENEUTICS
The purpose of Hermeneutics is to bridge the gap between
our minds and the minds of the Biblical writers through a
thorough knowledge of the original languages, ancient
history and the comparison of Scripture with Scripture.
MAJOR TYPES OF HERMENEUTICS
 HERMENEUTICS
LITERAL
Interpretation asserts that a biblical text is to be
interpreted according to the plain meaning conveyed by
its grammatical construction and historical context. The
literal meaning is held to correspond to the intention of
the authors.
This approach seeks out the “plain meaning” of a biblical text. This
is not to imply that every passage of Scripture should be interpreted
literally, but rather the plain meaning be accepted as truth. For
instance, when Jesus said the Christians are the light of the world,
we don’t believe we are literally a 100-watt light bulb. We do
believe that Jesus was telling us plainly that it is our role to
showcase the love of God to everyone around us.
 HERMENEUTICS
MORAL
Which seeks to establish exegetical
principles by which ethical lessons may be
drawn from the various parts of the Bible.
One popular example is the Epistle of Barnabas, where the
author believes the Old Testament food laws were misunderstood
by the people of Israel. Rather than restricting diet, he believes
the laws were meant to avoid behavior which was associated
with these animals.
 ALLEGORICAL
HERMENEUTICS
Interprets the biblical narratives as having a
second level of reference beyond those
persons, things, and events explicitly
mentioned in the text.
Most often this meant interpreting people and events as only
foreshadowing people and events in the New Testament, usually
Jesus and his actions. One such case would be Noah. Rather than
focusing on whether or not a worldwide flood actually happened,
viewing the story as an allegory allowed the readers to conclude
what type of person God was seeking as followers.
 INTERPRETATION
HERMENEUTICS
This mode of interpretation seeks to
explain biblical events as they relate to
or prefigure the life to come.
Relying significantly on numerical values of Hebrew letters
and words, the focus here was on Messianic prophecies and
the study of the last days. Similar to moral and allegorical
interpretation, importance was not given to the actual story
but to a perceived deeper meaning behind the story.
 Friedrich Schleiermacher
• Known as the father of modern
theology, and recently the father of
modern hermeneutics

• He transformed the traditional

Biblical hermeneutics into a general
hermeneutic which incorporated texts
of all kinds.
 PHENOMENOLOGY
• (from Greek "phainómenon" that which appears and
"lógos" study) is the philosophical study of the structures
of experience and consciousness.
• Founded in the early years of the 20th century by
Edmund Husserl
 PHENOMENOLOGY
It is the study of "phenomena" appearances of
things, or things as they appear in our experience, or
the ways we experience things, thus the meanings
things have in our experience.
hermeneutics
philosopher
Martin Heidegger
• A German philosopher and a seminal
thinker in the Continental tradition of
philosophy. He is best known for
contributions to phenomenology,
hermeneutics, and existentialism.

• In Being and Time (1927), Heidegger

addresses the meaning of being‖ by
considering the question, "what is common
to all entities that makes them entities?"
Paul Nicolai Hartmann
• A Baltic German philosopher. He is
regarded as a key representative of
critical realism and as one of the most
important twentieth century
metaphysicians.
• Hartmann's ontological theory, the
levels of reality are:
• (1) the inorganic level
• (2) the organic level
• (3) the psychical/emotional and
• (4) the intellectual/cultural level.
Paul Nicolai Hartmann
• The central concept of Hartmann's ethical
theory is that of a value. Hartmann's 1926
book, Ethik, elaborates a material ethics of
value according to which moral knowledge is
achieved through phenomenological
investigation into our experiences of values.
Moral phenomena is understood by
Hartmann to be experiences of a realm of
being which is distinct from that of material
things, namely, the realm of values.
Gabriel Honoré Marcel
• A French philosopher, playwright, music
critic and leading Christian existentialist.
• The author of over a dozen books and at
least thirty plays, Marcel's work focused
on the modern individual's struggle in a
technologically dehumanizing society.
Two main approaches to
Phenomenology
 1. Descriptive Phenomenology

It is widely used in social science research

as a method to explore and describe the
lived experience of individuals. It is a
philosophy and a scientific method and has
undertaken many variations as it has.
 2. Interpretative Phenomenology

It is an approach to psychological
qualitative research with an idiographic
focus, which means that it aims to offer
insights into how a given person, in a given
context, makes sense of a given
phenomenon.
 TYPES OF
PHENOMENOLOGY
1. Transcendental Constitutive Phenomenology

Studies how objects are constituted in

transcendental consciousness, setting aside
questions of any relation to the natural world.
2. Naturalistic Constitutive Phenomenology

Studies how consciousness constitutes things in

the world of nature, assuming with the natural
attitude that consciousness is part of nature.
3. Generative Historicist Phenomenology

Studies how meaning—as found in our

experience—is generated in historical processes
of collective experience over time.
 4. Genetic Phenomenology s

Studies the emergence/genesis of meanings of

things within one's own stream of experience.
 5. Hermeneutical Phenomenology

Studies interpretive structures of experience.

This approach was introduced in Martin
Heidegger's early work.
 Hermeneutical
phenomenology
• It is a philosophy of and a method for interpreting human
experiences as a means to understand the question of what
it is to be human.
• The phenomenology perspective tells us to remove our
preconceived ideas in order to arrive at a pure description of
our experiences.
 Hermeneutical
phenomenology

• However, it attempts to see the truth in things as a

means to understand what it is to be human.
Humans are born in a particular historical period,
country, community and background.