The hermeneutical method is one of the forms of investigation most widespread in academies since the beginning of time. Although in modern times it has been losing adherents due to its direct contrast with the scientific method.
The scientific method is 100% positivist and takes for granted only that which can be replicated with the same results each time and which cannot currently be falsified..
By contrast, hermeneutics tends to qualitative interpretation which leads us to subjectivity in knowledge, And although the scientific method owes its roots to hermeneutics, it seems a contrasted form of knowledge in which hermeneutics no longer has a place..
Although the above is quite relative since there is much knowledge that precisely escapes the objectivity proposed from the quantitative methods used by science.
The hermeneutical method is a form of analysis that tends towards interpretation, it was initially applied to the study of texts but later over time it has been applied in different contexts.
In its essence, hermeneutics and the hermeneutical method recognize in every text, object, word and action a double meaning: the literal, and a pragmatic, analogical or allegorical sense.
The proposal of the hermeneutical method is that the ability to communicate a message is not composed of a single level in space and direct time between sender and receiver, but there are complementary levels that give space to complementary messages.
The foregoing means, for example, that when reading a text one can enter a totally different interpretive dimension from that proposed by the author or the message itself, in this way hermeneutics tends towards deep analysis in order to exhaust all possible interpretation around the text. , theme or particular object.
The origin of the hermeneutical method can be traced thousands of years ago, and it is that being a knowledge that is based on the interpretative we can trace its origin to the first attempts to decipher metaphors and allegories that were found in the sacred writings of the different peoples.
This practice can be found in towns long before the Christian era. Although in a strict sense, hermeneutics was born within the framework of Christian Catholicism in the search to extract precepts from the sacred scriptures.
Long after the philosopher Martin Heidegger takes up the use of the method, but gives it a radical turn, by ceasing to consider this an exclusive method for the study of scriptures and spirituality and proposes to use this to carry out deep existential analyzes on the different paths of being.
As a result of this turn contributed by the philosopher, many research currents have been able to make use of this tool as part of their research and as a complementary method..
In fact psychoanalysis and some psychological currents make use of hermeneutical strategies and base some of their postulates on this method.
With the above we can deduce that at present there are two great factions of hermeneutics in force. On the one hand the sacred hermeneutics or classical hermeneutics and on the other hand the hermeneutical method Properly said.
Having clear the difference established above, we can state the characteristics of the hermeneutical method dividing these in the following way:
Classical hermeneutics was dedicated or dedicated exclusively to the study of sacred texts, In order to extract from there the knowledge of God and the guidelines that this has to govern our lives, in this sense its main characteristics of analysis are:
Is about interpret the texts as they appear writteni, as in the case of the commandments or some stories that literally give an account of their historical veracity.
A second characteristic of classical hermeneutical analysis is the search for a spiritual meaning behind the stories, even behind the wildest ones..
Also in this type of analysis, it was sought in the most logical way possible, to establish allegories in the most incredible stories, for example when talking about people who ascended body and soul to heaven making an allegory of holiness that must be had in each person.
Obviously classical hermeneutics embarked on the search for moral precepts established through the word, which was not difficult in the first instance since sacred accounts are full of direct moral orders and mandates..
The anagogic or mystical sense speaks of the search for the hermeneutics of mystical answers that give a solution to the greatest enigmas of humanity, such as creation or the meaning of existence..
Now let us see the characteristics of the hermeneutical method itself, established by philosophers and worked hard for centuries in the qualitative academic research.
This is governed by four main parameters or structures that must be worked on:
Horizon structure
Every object of study must be understood in a context of meaning with the information given by history and society..
Circular Structure
Every object of study must be analyzed from the same information that it provides, said analysis serves to explain the thing itself
Dialog structure
In the study, an attitude must always be open to the possibilities and be analyzed according to its content and not its origin.
Mediation structure
The analysis of every object must be subject to the inference of information from different existing sources and these must be taken into account as historical and social references..
The hermeneutical method itself and even the classical one, have three main steps that allow its correct application and that must be followed in all hermeneutical analysis..
Linguistic or meaning analysis
The first thing is the linguistic or meaning analysis, this is in the case of words, the evocation made by the word itself, for example the word lighthouse is only four phonemes but they refer to an entire structure and even to a scene if we know where the headlights are located.
Literary or literal analysis
Literal analysis is a deep look at the thing itself, in the case of words the analysis of its literality, its structure, its grammatical tracing, etc..
Deep analysis of value and being
The deep analysis refers to the moment in which the hermeneutics itself emerges, since after analyzing all the collected data, an analysis of the value of the thing itself is carried out, taking into account its meaning and everything that comes in conjunction with it. object of study.
Thus, for example, a fable is only a fable until after a hermeneutical analysis its true reasons for being can be established and it can be given an extensive qualitative value..
There are many examples of the hermeneutical method, but we will show you two clear contexts of the use of the hermeneutical method in the construction of knowledge..
On the one hand we have religion and the hermeneutical analysis of the scriptures. For example there is a text that says: "Do not throw the pearls to the pigs"
From a logical point of view it makes no sense to throw pearls to pigs, but why would a spiritual master throw or protect his pearls from pigs??
In this sense, from the classical hermeneutical analysis, allegorical, analogical, moral and anagogical fragments can be extracted from this simple statement that can speak of not wasting time teaching those who are not worthy of learning, it teaches a moral stance against unconditionally helping others people, and even talks about the mysticism that surrounds a sage and that it should not be wasted with common men.
On the other hand, we have the psychoanalysis as a branch of knowledge that uses the hermeneutical method to unravel the unconscious of the people who undergo analysis.
The patients report dreams, anecdotes, sensations and thoughts, and the analyst, using the hermeneutical method, tries to reach the point that is beyond the thing itself, a point that is found in the subject's unconscious, preventing it from being directly referenced, as a rock waiting to be studied so it can talk about itself.
As you can see, the hermeneutical method is a fabulous tool for those who work in research or educational areas..
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