7 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
American literary theorist who defended authorial intentionalism in interpretation — the meaning of a text is what the author intended — and argued for cultural literacy as a prerequisite for educational success.
German philosopher who developed philosophical hermeneutics — arguing that understanding is not a method but an event constituted by tradition, language, and the fusion of horizons.
Medieval theologian and mystic at the Abbey of St. Victor who argued that all learning — secular and sacred — leads toward the restoration of the divine image in the human soul.
French philosopher who developed a hermeneutical phenomenology — a philosophy of interpretation that engaged with Freud, structuralism, and analytic philosophy — producing influential accounts of narrative, identity, and memory.
Victorine theologian who translated and interpreted the Dionysian Corpus for the Latin West, developing an affective mysticism that emphasized love rather than intellect as the highest faculty for union with God.
Wei dynasty philosopher who produced the authoritative commentary on the Laozi and an important commentary on the I Ching, developing the xuanxue (neo-Daoist) interpretation that Being (you) depends on Non-Being (wu) as its foundation.