Interpretation - A Critical Primer - Nathan Eric Dickman
What is the Meaning of a Text?
Interpretation - A Critical Primer - Nathan Eric Dickman
Nathan Eric Dickman [+]
University of the Ozarks
Nathan Eric Dickman (PhD, The University of Iowa) is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of the Ozarks. He researches in hermeneutic phenomenology, philosophy of language, and comparative questions in philosophies of religions, with particular concerns about global social justice issues in ethics and religions. He has taught a breadth of courses, from Critical Thinking to Zen, and Existentialism to Greek & Arabic philosophy. His book titled "Using Questions to Think" (Bloomsbury, 2021) examines the roles questions play in critical thinking and reasoning, his book titled "Philosophical Hermeneutics and the Priority of Questions in Religions" (Bloomsbury, 2022) examines the roles questions play in religious discourse, and his book titled "Interpretation: A Critical Primer" (Equinox, 2023) examines the role of questions in the interpretation of texts.
Description
Interpretation appears to be ubiquitous. Are we ever not interpreting? From disagreements over the US constitution to divergent perspectives about our favorite songs and movies to opposing views about sacred texts. At the same time, people use “interpretation” pejoratively, to claim that someone else’s perspective is merely an interpretation whereas their own perspective is an accurate picture of reality. This introduction forges parameters for a useful notion of interpretation focused on written texts but can be a skill transferable by analogy to other things besides texts.