"The Life of Gadamer" Author: [Canada] Jean Grandin Publisher: Baidea | Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press Translator: Huang Wang / Hu Chengen

-Editor's Recommendation-

Who is Gadamer?

His tombstone in Heidelberg says it all: "Philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002)".

He is a philosopher

He developed a new kind of thought that is more or less familiar under the name of hermeneutics, the guiding principles of which are presented in his masterpiece, Truth and Method (1960), which profoundly revolutionized the idea of ​​interpretation and its existence.

★He is Heidegger's student——

He lived through the same history that Heidegger lived through, the history of 20th-century Germany: he grew up during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and lived through World War I, the fall of the Weimar Republic, the rise of the Nazis, and then World War II, the division of Germany, and Europe’s Cold War.

He lived 26 years longer than Heidegger, which enabled him to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall and the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

Like his teacher, his actions during the Nazi period inevitably aroused controversy. How will future generations comment on him?

★He is a centenarian spanning three centuries——

He was born in 1900, a year of many stars. In that year, Nietzsche died, phenomenology was born, and Freud and Dilthey published their pioneering works; he died on March 13, 2002, at the age of 102. Today, his works continue to influence many schools of thought, and his thoughts and his life have finally been commented on by his best interpreters.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the problem of interpretation became central to the entire human sciences. For Gadamer, the problem of interpretation is not only a matter of methodology, but also a fundamental characteristic of our "way of being" and who we are. This biography comes at an opportune time, illuminating a philosophical character that is essential to the understanding of modernity.

-Content Introduction-

Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) is a German philosopher and a master of philosophical hermeneutics. He wrote many books throughout his life, mainly in the fields of philosophical aesthetics and historical philosophy. His book Truth and Method, published in 1960, marked the birth of modern philosophical hermeneutics and became a classic work in this field (the "Bible" of modern hermeneutics), which also established Gadamer's status as a master of modern philosophical hermeneutics.

The author of this biography is Gadamer's closest student and has always been one of the most important scholars in the field of hermeneutics. Therefore, this book can be said to be the most authoritative and comprehensive biography of Gadamer's life and achievements. Through interviews with Gadamer himself and his contemporaries, as well as consulting Gadamer's private letters and archives, the author outlines Gadamer's life course as a scholar and the development of his thoughts, and places them in the context of his time - Gadamer is at the center of dark and complex historical events in the 20th century because he chose to stay in his native Germany in the 1930s. The author explains the origin and influence of Gadamer's representative work "Truth and Method", and also explains Gadamer's attitude and actions during the Nazi Germany period, in order to outline the portrait of an impartial scholar who tried to protect German culture and traditions in the face of great threats.

-Media Recommendation-

Grandin's book is a delightful and intimate gift for those of us who are striving to understand Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics.

—Francis J. Ambrosio, Georgetown University

This book is an extraordinary achievement and thanks to Grandin's excellent research we can fully understand the facts of Gadamer's life in their historical context.

--Donald G. Marshall, University of Illinois at Chicago

Overall, this book will provide more perspectives for those who study 20th century philosophy. The emergence of philosophical hermeneutics related to phenomenology and other orientations in continental philosophy is an extremely valuable asset to us.

--"choose"

An outstanding biography of one of the greatest philosophers of our time, Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002), the man who gave birth to hermeneutics.

— Gianni Vattimo and Santiago Zabala

This extremely readable and very comprehensive biography is essential reading and is highly recommended for those who are committed to philosophical hermeneutics and wish to understand how philosophical positions develop and how they are incarnated in the lives of philosophers.

--Patrick Quinn

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