Fatemeh Abdollahpour Sangchi
Abstract
In recent decades, philosophical hermeneutics, grounded in ontological premises—most notably in the thought of Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer—has brought about ...
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In recent decades, philosophical hermeneutics, grounded in ontological premises—most notably in the thought of Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer—has brought about a fundamental shift in theories of textual understanding and interpretation. By emphasizing concepts such as Dasein, pre-understanding, and the fusion of horizons, this approach redefines the interpreter not as an external observer but as an integral participant in the process of meaning formation. While such a framework opens new horizons for the interpretation of human and historical texts, its application to religious texts raises serious epistemological and methodological challenges, including the weakening of textual objectivity, the marginalization of authorial (divine) intent, and the tendency toward interpretive relativism. Employing a descriptive–analytical method with a critical orientation, this article examines the implications of philosophical hermeneutics for the interpretation of religious texts and argues that although the historicity and situatedness of understanding are undeniable features of human cognition, their unqualified extension to all levels of meaning—particularly in revelatory texts—leads to interpretive subjectivism and arbitrary readings. The findings suggest that a legitimate and productive engagement with philosophical hermeneutics in the domain of religious interpretation requires a critical revision of its radical assumptions and a principled integration with established rational and transmitted interpretive criteria. Such an approach makes it possible to preserve the ontological depth of understanding while maintaining relative semantic stability and rational evaluability among competing interpretations.
