Contribution to a Hermeneutical Pedagogy

Abstract

This article argues that philosophical hermeneutics, despite its onto-logical character, can inform higher education teaching in a mean-ingful way. After discussing theoretical aspects of philosophical her-meneutics, focus will turn to pre-understandings and historically ef-fected consciousness. These concepts will lead to hermeneutics’s transformative nature, with the notion of openness serving as a com-mon thread. The review of three further concepts of philosophical hermeneutics—hermeneutical experience, authentic dialogue, and Bildung—will provide insight into openness as a vanishing point without being a culmination. Parallels to Mezirow’s method of trans-formative learning will be drawn and the concept of Bildung, central to philosophical hermeneutics, will be considered through the Hum-boldtian lens to better extract its practical implications, which lay beyond Gadamer’s theoretical focus. Finally, the last section will ce-ment the applicative intent of the article by presenting concrete teaching practices that 􀏔low from philosophical hermeneutics.