Abstract

The texts gathered here were written to serve as an introduction to hermeneutical studies for a wide audience. The guiding idea was to present the concepts and theories that structure the paradigm of hermeneutic thinking from everyday and common experiences. Embedded in this strategy is the thesis that theoretical terms are abstractions from concrete practices and experiences of individuals and communities. In the case of basic hermeneutical terms such as "sense", "expression", "meaning", "interpretation" and "understanding" this is both evident and problematic, as it is difficult to grasp the theoretical concepts that these words designate in each theory hermeneutics without confusing them with the non-theoretical notions associated with them in their daily and living use of language. In the following texts, I have attempted to clarify its use in hermeneutic theories, but always with the aim of presenting basic concepts on which the different hermeneutic theories will build their theses and intelligibility schemes. The strategy for this was to refer its use to practical contexts and basic actions, as this is where sense and meaning take place and acquire consistency.