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The Rehabilitation of Rhetoric in Gadamer’s Philosophical Hermeneutics
YANG Li, QIN Ming-li
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DOI:10.17265/2159-5313/2019.10.002
The interrelation of rhetoric and hermeneutics is rooted in our existential historicity and linguisticity. Rhetorical competence and education are integral approaches to a better understanding of being-in-the-world. Inspired by Platonic dialectic and Aristotle’s phronesis, Gadamer has redefined true rhetoric and revived the epistemological and ethical dimensions in rhetoric in his philosophical hermeneutics. This article investigates four aspects in Gadamer’s rehabilitation of rhetoric. First, rhetoric as ethics. Rhetoric transcends the dualism of self-other, subject-object through its dialogical structure, and is composed of understanding and application as a whole in hermeneutic experience. Second, rhetoric as discursive knowledge. Rhetoric is oriented to eine Sache (reality) itself, and is endowed with primitive experience of truth. Its own validity as discursive knowledge is not confined to scientific methodology, and is essential for natural and human sciences. Third, rhetoric as component of linguisticity. The ubiquity of rhetoric makes it an integral component of linguisticity. The capacity to use metaphors, symbols, allegory is an important aspect of our linguisticity, revealing the rhetorical quality in language. Lastly, hermeneutic theories inspired by rhetoric. Gadamer’s rehabilitation of rhetoric is beneficial for the development of philosophical hermeneutics and humanist education in modern world.
rhetoric, Gadamer, rehabilitation, philosophical hermeneutics, ethics
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