Year: 2004
Type: dissertation
Abstract: past was altered. In other words, the abstract recollection of the past self as a whole could be altered or persistent. Dilthey explained, We experience persistence when we return to what we have just seen or heard and find it still there. We experience change when particular qualities of the composite whole have been replaced. The same applies when we look into ourselves, become aware of the self which experiences duration and change, and observe our inner life. (Dilthey, 1985, p.151). Next, Hans-Georg Gadamer (1960/2000) built upon the aforementioned philosophical works, but ultimately maintained that no methodology within the human sciences could produce absolute truth. All written word was situated within a dialogue that started before the text was read and that continued afterwards. The reader entered into a dialogue with the author when the text was read. The best that could be achieved was an understanding of the text by moving the text, or the question put to the text, into the reader’s context for understanding. According to Gadamer, the understanding was more complete when the reader understood the social and historical context of the author and a shared horizon for understanding was achieved. This was not a relativistic historical understanding because the meaning was shared, and the value of the understanding was found in its usefulness (Grondin, 1994). Finally, aspects of the philosophy of Edmund Husserl were critical in this research. Specifically, Husserl’s (1999) work on perception and the body. According to Husserl (1999) consciousness was always of something else. When a person was conscious, his or her consciousness was directed toward something, which was referred to as intentionality. It was the task of hermeneutics to understand human consciousness.
Author: Tracie Harrison
Language: English
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2147287702