Explain the two levels of hermeneutics.?

Question

Explain the two level of hermeneutics by Hubert Dreyfus. Give an example of each.

Answer 1

Hubert Dreyfus is somewhat similar to Gadamer in his view of interpretation. That is in understanding the real meaning of the text when it is buried deep in ideology and false consciousness. They both believe that interpreting texts is a means to understanding its meaning so as to help in achieving a meaningful life and thought.

A. Articulates essential structures of everydayness.

It gives the text a more human outlook by making the interpreter able to relate to the text.

Example: Interpreting a diary, i.e. Anne Frank’s

B. Removes the guises and keeps us grounded.

Society has its weird notions and suppositions, creating fallacies around facts. When these falsities are removed, we understand the real meaning of the text, why was it written and what its supposed to mean.

Example: Interpreting Animal Farm, removing the guises that communists build around their practices.