The Critical Circle - by David Couzens Hoy (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Critical Circle investigates the celebrated hermeneutic circle, especially as it manifests itself in historical inquiry and literary criticism. Formulated variously in different theories of hermeneutics, the circle generally describes how, in the process of understanding an interpretation, part and whole are related in a circular way: in order to understand the while, it is necessary to understand the parts, while to understand the parts it is necessary to have some comprehension of the whole. --from the Foreword

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

From the Back Cover

"Hoy shows that it is possible to bring the French, German, and Anglo-American critical traditions into meaningful relationship without blurring the distinctions that separate them. ... For an understanding of Gadamers relevance to current criticism, his book is indispensable; many will find it useful as a synoptic account of the critical theories that have become prominent." --Wallace Martin, Comparative Literature

"An extremely useful compendium of the nature and status of contemporary disputes about the contribution of hermeneutic philosophy--both regarding te interpretation of literary texts and more generally regarding epistemological puzzles linking the Anglo-American analytic tradition with current Continental work. There has been a while raft of books of this genre, but Hoy's nine-page introduction is certainly one of the clearest and most succinct reviews of the central issues." --Joseph Margolis, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

About the Author

David Couzens Hoy is Distinguished Professor, Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of California, Santa Cruz.