Interpretive Circle and the Process of Understanding (philosophical hermeneutics as an example)

Nisreen Shaker Hakim

Abstract

Hermeneutic theory, since its coming into the field of religious understanding firstly, and all other fields of human understanding in general, has had a distinctive position that made the theory the focus of attention of scholars and thinkers. Hermeneutic theory has begun with the Bible in facilitating its understading and keeping safe from being misunderstood, its being an effective tool in dealing with human sciences, and finally its involving in the ontological philosophical field; therefore, it has become, with the Bible, an ontological expression of human existence and an argument leading to it. One of the important concepts in the scope of hermeneutics is the concept of interpretive circle, which seas that the meanings of sentences are determined by the total meaning of the text. Understanding, then, is not pursued “vertically” by placing beliefs on top of foundations, but rather “circularly”, in an explanatory movement back and forth between the possible meanings of our assumptions that, in turn, allow the question to arise. So, the pursuit of understanding is not constructed according to the principle of "higher and higher"; rather, it goes "deeper and deeper", and becomes "completer and completer." Hence, this circle had a distinct meaning in the philosophical trend of Hermeneutics that relied on prejudgments and the revision of the conditions of understanding in order to get to the right horizon of easy understanding. What has distinguished this trend is its ontological necessity, infinite understanding and prejudgments.

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