Gadamer, Hans-Georg
Hans-Georg Gadamer is the decisive figure in the development of twentieth century hermeneutics. Trained in neo-Kantian scholarship, as well as in classical philology, and profoundly affected by the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, Gadamer developed a distinctive and thoroughly dialogical approach, grounded in Platonic-Aristotelian as well as Heideggerian thinking, that rejects subjectivism and relativism, abjures any simple notion of interpretive method, and grounds understanding in the linguistically mediated happening of tradition.
Gadamer—Event, Presentation, Play
"The being of art cannot be defined as an object of an aesthetic consciousness because, on the contrary, the aesthetic attitude is more than it knows of itself. It is a part of the event of being that occurs in presentation, and belongs essentially to play as play." (p.115)
Bibliographic Reference:
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and method. 2nd ed. London: Sheed and Ward, 1989.
Gadamer—art = play = nature
"Inasmuch as nature is without purpose and intention, just as it is without exertion, it is a constantly self-renewing play, and can therefore appear as a model for art." (P. 105)
Bibliographic Reference:
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and method. 2nd ed. London: Sheed and Ward, 1989.
Gadamer—on why we 'play'
"It is part of play that the movement is not only without goal or purpose but also without effort... The ease of play—which... refers phenomenologically only to the absence of strain—is experienced subjectively as relaxation. The structure of play absorbs the player into itself, and thus frees him from... the strain of existence. This is also seen in the spontaneous tendency to repetition."
Bibliographic Reference:
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and method. 2nd ed. London: Sheed and Ward, 1989.
Gadamer—etymology of 'play'
"If we examine how the word "play" is used... In each case what is intended is to-and-fro movement that is not tied to any goal that would bring it to an end... rather, it renews itself in constant repetition... It is the game that is played—it is irrelevant whether or not there is a subject who plays it." (p.104)
Bibliographic Reference:
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and method. 2nd ed. London: Sheed and Ward, 1989.
Gadamer—work of art as experience
"Instead the work of art has its true being in the fact that it becomes an experience that changes the person who experiences" (p.103)
Bibliographic Reference:
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and method. 2nd ed. London: Sheed and Ward, 1989.
Gadamer—on 'play'
"Seriousness is not merely something that calls us away from play; rather, seriousness in playing is necessary to make the play wholly play" (p.103)
Bibliographic Reference:
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and method. 2nd ed. London: Sheed and Ward, 1989.
Gadamer—on aesthetic consciousness and the real
"conceiving aesthetic consciousness as something that confronts an object does not do justice to the real situation." (p.102)
Bibliographic Reference:
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and method. 2nd ed. London: Sheed and Ward, 1989.
Gadamer—on 'play'
"When we speak of play in reference to the experience of art, this means neither the orientation nor even the state of mind of the creator or of those enjoying the work of art, nor the freedom of a subjectivity engaged in play, but the mode of being of the work of art itself." (p.102)
Bibliographic Reference:
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and method. 2nd ed. London: Sheed and Ward, 1989.
