11/20 Bernstein, 109-139

Theme: Hermeneutics

1. According to Descartes, what causes error in human judgment? How does Gadamer’s claims about the role of prejudice or prejudgment in understanding contrast with this and lead to a different sense of human finitude?

2. How does Gadamer use the concepts of play and games to argue that the artwork is not a self-enclosed object since it does not have meaning without an interpreter?

3. What does Gadamer’s claim that prejudice is inherent suggest about the necessity of working within a tradition and the need for constant reinterpretation? How are these three points further developed in the notion of the hermeneutic circle?