hermeneutyka

Hermeneutyka, or hermeneutics, is the theory and methodology of interpretation, with emphasis on the interpretation of written texts, language, and symbolic systems. It seeks to understand how meaning is produced, communicated, and understood across contexts, disciplines, and cultures. The field addresses questions of authorial intent, reader response, textual context, and the historical and cultural frameworks that shape interpretation. In philosophy, hermeneutics links to questions about how comprehension is achieved rather than just decoding signs.

Historically, hermeneutics originated in ancient and medieval exegesis of religious texts and developed into a broader theory of interpretation in the 18th and 19th centuries. Friedrich Schleiermacher stressed reconstructing an author's intended meaning, while Wilhelm Dilthey extended hermeneutics to the human sciences, arguing that understanding is grounded in lived experience. In the 20th century, Martin Heidegger reframed interpretation as a fundamental mode of being, and Hans-Georg Gadamer emphasized the hermeneutic circle and the fusion of horizons in dialogue. Paul Ricoeur contributed a narrative and critical dimension, distinguishing explanation and interpretation while acknowledging ambiguity.

Core concepts include the hermeneutic circle—the idea that interpretation combines the understanding of a part with the whole—and the fusion of horizons, wherein the interpreter's perspective meets the text's historical world. Hermeneutics is applied across literature, law, theology, philosophy, anthropology, and translation studies, among others.

In Polish discourse, hermeneutyka often refers to philosophical and literary interpretation and has a distinct tradition within the broader continental philosophy.