THE BOOK is an attempt to apply postmodern hermeneutics in the study of language, i.e. the theory of meaning and interpretation of the life-world in human knowledge and understanding. Four types of hermeneutics such as, philosophical hermeneutics (Gadamer), radical hermeneutics (Ricoeur), critical hermeneutics (Habermas), and deconstructive hermeneutics (Derrida) are discussed under postmodern hermeneutics. All the above thinkers have been influenced and at the same time critiqued the contributions made by the great phenomenological masters like, Husserl and Heidegger.
Postmodernism gives a new way of understanding hermeneutics by rejecting metanarratives, thus creating a new type of discourse which was not hitherto seen or examined by previous forms of philosophizing.
Hermeneutics as a theory of interpretation has an implication both on Continental as well as Anglo-Saxon philosophy. For example, it is evident in the writings of neo-pragmatist like Rorty, who has applied it to later Wittgenstein, and in Continental tradition one can see how Ricoeur has interpreted Wittgenstein. Ricoeur's interesting paper, "The Later Wittgenstein and the Later Husserl on Language" shows that the common ground of investigation for these two central figures of phenomenology and analytic philosophy, is language. In the case of Wittgenstein, there is a development of a pragmatic notion of language, whereas in Husserl, language is not separable from that of experience, says Ricoeur. Thus, one can see the confluence of Anglo-Saxon philosophy and Continental philosophy in postmodern hermeneutics.
Some of the chapters of this book are revised chapters published in the Indian Philosophical Quarterly and Journal of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research. I thank the editors of these journals. I fondly remember my teachers Professor C.T.K. Chari, Professor H.R.T. Roberts and Professor R. Balasubramanian under whom I have learnt "philosophizing". I personally thank Professor R. Murali and Professor Kanchana Mahadevan who were keen to see the book in the printed form and I am grateful to them for their love and affection, and other friends for their valuable suggestions.
Kalai has been inspiring me always and her moral support is unforgettable. The support I received from Saran, Ram, Janani, and Chittu has helped me to continue my academic work without any disruption and I also thank Mahe and Niki for their affectionate support.
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