Hermeneutics: Facts and Interpretation in the Age of Information (Pelican Books)

This is the introduction I wished I had had many years ago as a philosophy major. Caputo engages the reader immediately and leads one into the quest for interpreting. Bravo!

This is one of the best books I’ve read

To define “hermeneutics” as “the theory that everything is a matter of interpretation” is a solipsistic assumption that reduces to absurdity. Caputo then begs questions when he argues that some interpretations are “better” than others, which leads to the same epistemological insanity as Nietzche’s “perspectivalism.”I hope to update this review as I read more of the book, but I “deconstruct” the author’s biases as being an evasion of theological commitment, for instance the passion of faith that calls for a follower of Christ to take up the cross in absolute devotion to the truth of the gospel.

There’s something about Continental philosophy since Heidegger that begs for a simple, common-sense treatment, but unfortunately this is not it. The intention is there, but the reality is that Caputo in his desire to simplify has lost the philosophy itself. What we are left with is a kind of rose water that can bless everything and anything, and does in fact do so — but only provided it has already earned the politically correct seal of approval. Thus this book ends up being a whitewashing of contemporary “blah” aesthetics, using the hocus-pocus of abstract German words.What we still need is a competent popularizer who can decrypt those German words into readable English and explain the reason for them. What were the controversies that led to these subtle nuances of doctrine? What did people say *about* Gadamer or Heidegger or Derrida at the time they were publishing? What kind of art or literature did they promote, or what kind claimed them as its oracle?Caputo’s book receives the Penguin imprimatur, but it leaves the reader with only a vague haze of understanding. It is a superficial juggling of concepts that does not delve into the underlying meanings of words.

The book is lightweight but interesting for any student of philosophy. Though the book leaves the reader in the dilemma of inconclusivity at many a places, but those are the places where it throws open windows of hermeneutic pluralism and offers the choice of interpretive multiplicity. The book offers superficial, but useful summary of Heideggerian and Derridian Epitemo-Ontology.

Estoy haciendo un máster de filosofía en la UNED y necesitaba un libro para introducirme al mundo de la hermenéutica. Comprar este libro ha sido un gran acierto!!Para los que manejan bien el inglés este libro es la introducción perfecta a la hermenéutica, ofreciendo al lector en capítulos breves y sencillos, resúmenes de las ideas de los grandes pensadores del siglo XX cuyos ideas sobre la interpretación han sido fundamentales.Un libro tan interesante como útil que recomiendo a cualquiera que tiene algún interés por este tema.

Possibly we all need to recognise "truth" has more often than not been only a series of "privileged interpretations" of an elite seeking control of the majority - or perhaps assuming the need of control to protect that which they perceive as "truth". John Caputo argues the case for a revolutionary hermeneutics that potentially offers a voice to those who are often silenced, who question the status quo of every such privileged position of authority. Thus "post truth" can in fact lead to a greater love of truth, a true seeking, within the parameters of our fallible humanity where each human being is precious beyond measure.John Caputo argues his case well, taking the argument well beyond the sound-bites of "relative" v "absolute" that are often the stock in trade of those seeking to support any "one truth" (their own) and dismiss all others. "What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?" Answer: - "An appropriate statement" (Yun-men) What is "appropriate" in each unique moment is "absolute".

This is well written and easily understandable - the mark of a modern person who understands their subject

not as good as expected. not worth buying.