Name of Theory
Hermeneutics
Introduction
Broadly and simply speaking, hermeneutics can be understood as the “art or technique of understanding and interpretation” (Gadamer 1975/2004, p. 175), with the text typically being considered the original interpretandum of hermeneutics. Interpretative reflections and practices date back to ancient Greece, with systematic and written attempts to discuss standards for interpretation appearing as early as the seventeeth century (Mantzavinos 2016). Yet, it was in the nineteenth century that hermeneutics began to be developed as a methodology for the human-sciences, and, thus, for understanding human life and the products of human action. Recognition for the relevance of hermeneutics to specific fields of psychological inquiry, such as clinical psychology and psychopathology, came to rise later in the twentieth century.
Ideally, by the end of this entry, what should become clear to the reader is that the tradition of hermeneutics does not offer an...
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Brar, P.S. (2019). Hermeneutics in Relation to Family Systems Theory. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_279-1
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