Beyond Method

Abstract

Aristotle was, for Gadamer, a major presence within the hermeneutictradition . The distinctions Aristotle drew in his Nicomachean Ethics between different forms of reasoning were crucial in defining the nature of understanding and threw into sharp relief what Gadamer termed ‘the problem of method ’, i.e. the erroneous assumption that that methods have universal application . Gadamer argued that within the human sciences the notion of ‘method’ had been misunderstood and misapplied. Methods may have their minor uses but can never in themselves lead to understanding. Only by engaging with the particular question posed by the object of inquiry—and addressed to us in our unique situations and with our unique histories—can we begin to understand that object. In becoming educated we become more receptive to the world around us and the questions it asks of us. We become worldlier. Education is centrally concerned with enabling us to move out into the world as confident thinkers capable of acknowledging the uniqueness of the problems facing us.

Applying the method is what the person does who never finds out anything new, who never brings to light an interpretation that has revelatory power. (Gadamer 2001, 42)