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Article: Enountering the philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer.(Essay)
- Article from:
- Contemporary Review
- Article date:
- March 22, 2008
- Author:
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IN 1968, when Gadamer became Emeritus, I was contemplating my first undergraduate year. Hans-Georg Gadamer was a German philosopher whose life (1900-2002) encompassed the whole twentieth century. He is best remembered for his important book Truth and Method (1960). Five years from the close of the millennium, at the age of 95, he gave a startling interview in the manner of a retrospective (Gadamer, 1995). I was struck by the prologue which quoted him musing on his brief time as Rector of Leipzig--'without illusions one cannot even try to hold such an office' (1995, 27)--as I was then contemplating transformation into a Dean, that is, a creature with noble responsibilities ...