Method

Hermeneutic Circle

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Classification

Method family
critical / interpretive
Domains
Philosophy of Language

Overview

The hermeneutic circle interprets parts through a provisional understanding of their whole and revises the whole through closer interpretation of its parts.

Purpose. The method develops a more adequate understanding of a text, action, or expression through repeated movement between context and detail. It is not vicious circular reasoning: the return changes and tests the interpreter's prior understanding.

Characteristic operations

  • Form a provisional whole: Begin with an initial sense of the work, context, or question.
  • Interpret a part: Read a passage or feature in light of that provisional whole.
  • Let the part revise the whole: Change the larger interpretation when the detail resists it.
  • Repeat reflectively: Continue the movement while examining the historical assumptions brought by the interpreter.

Used by traditions

Applied to questions

References