Gadamer and Tradition: An Inquiry into the Rapport between Philosophical Hermeneutics and Rhetoric

The general aim of this dissertation is to demonstrate that Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics can be understood in terms of the divergence between Plato and Aristotle. Besides that, the other major concern of this dissertation is to probe into the linkage between hermeneutics and rhetoric. In the first two sections, an analysis of the fundamental difference between Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics and other hermeneutics proposed by thinkers such as Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Betti, and Hirsch in light of several classical concepts, including phronesis, techne, and episteme, will be the focus. Starting from the conclusion achieved in the first two sections, the third section will show that Gadamer’s hermeneutics can be regarded as more “Aristotelian,” while other hermeneutics more “Platonic.” The fourth section is to investigate the notion of dialogue in terms of its connection with classical philosophy. On the other hand, in this section the validity and the limit of the dialogical model in philosophical hermeneutics are also the targets of research. The fifth section is an investigation of the relation between philosophical hermeneutics and Perelman’s New Rhetoric by paying special attention to the fact that in both philosophical hermeneutics and New Rhetoric the interpretation of law plays an integral part. The remaining part of this thesis is on the whole to understand philosophical hermeneutics by looking into Gadamer’s elaboration on the aesthetic experience, since by virtue of a scrutiny of the relation between the hermeneutic experience and the aesthetic experience we can also tease out the classical elements that are influential on the formation of philosophical hermeneutics.