Romanticism, Hermeneutics and the Crisis of the Human Sciences

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Romanticism, Hermeneutics and the Crisis of the Human Sciences by Scott Masson, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Scott Masson ISBN: 9781351149785
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: November 28, 2017
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Scott Masson
ISBN: 9781351149785
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: November 28, 2017
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

The human sciences established and developed in the nineteenth century have slowly disintegrated. It is an ironic end. It was in the name of the greater legitimacy of more universal psychological criteria that its architects disavowed the traditional theological standard for valuing and evaluating human words and deeds. With hindsight, we can see that universality was indeed gained, but only at the cost of alienating any sense of common legitimacy. Harold Bloom, defending the canon largely in the humanising, 'moral sense' convention of critics operating since Matthew Arnold, has resolutely maintained the common legitimacy of aesthetic value against the claims of particular interest groups. But the very universality attached to aesthetic value is at odds with the world of common sense, and thus lies at the root of the problem. To complicate matters, this universality has been understood as a traditional criterion. A more radical treatment of the subject is needed. This study begins by surveying the field of modern hermeneutics. Noting its repeated crises of self-legitimisation, it traces these to circular beliefs bequeathed by Romanticism that human nature is self-begetting, and can thus be known intimately and autonomously. After providing a historical overview of how human nature had been understood, the focus shifts to the attack in Coleridge's Biographia Literaria on Wordsworth's 1802 Preface to Lyrical Ballads, and to a reading of some key Romantic texts. It reads Coleridge's famous definition of the imagination as an attack on Romantic hermeneutics, rooted in the traditional view that man has been created in Imago Dei.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The human sciences established and developed in the nineteenth century have slowly disintegrated. It is an ironic end. It was in the name of the greater legitimacy of more universal psychological criteria that its architects disavowed the traditional theological standard for valuing and evaluating human words and deeds. With hindsight, we can see that universality was indeed gained, but only at the cost of alienating any sense of common legitimacy. Harold Bloom, defending the canon largely in the humanising, 'moral sense' convention of critics operating since Matthew Arnold, has resolutely maintained the common legitimacy of aesthetic value against the claims of particular interest groups. But the very universality attached to aesthetic value is at odds with the world of common sense, and thus lies at the root of the problem. To complicate matters, this universality has been understood as a traditional criterion. A more radical treatment of the subject is needed. This study begins by surveying the field of modern hermeneutics. Noting its repeated crises of self-legitimisation, it traces these to circular beliefs bequeathed by Romanticism that human nature is self-begetting, and can thus be known intimately and autonomously. After providing a historical overview of how human nature had been understood, the focus shifts to the attack in Coleridge's Biographia Literaria on Wordsworth's 1802 Preface to Lyrical Ballads, and to a reading of some key Romantic texts. It reads Coleridge's famous definition of the imagination as an attack on Romantic hermeneutics, rooted in the traditional view that man has been created in Imago Dei.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Estonia by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Community Forestry in Nepal by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Learning with Computers by Scott Masson
Cover of the book The Liberal Peace and Post-War Reconstruction by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Hume's Philosophy of Belief (Routledge Revivals) by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Research in the College Context by Scott Masson
Cover of the book The Neurologically-Impaired Child by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Civil Disobedience and the German Courts by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Re-Thinking Mobility by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Filming the Nation by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Labor and Democracy in the Transition to a Market System by Scott Masson
Cover of the book The Ethnographic Imagination by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Problems of Youth by Scott Masson
Cover of the book Routledge Handbook of Global Economic History by Scott Masson
Cover of the book The Collected Novels and Memoirs of William Godwin Vol 8 by Scott Masson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy