Wanderings

Hermeneutics as Politics takes note of something most American academics seem (tone) deaf to: The political nature of continental philosophy. Our continuing fear of genuine political thought leaves us all the more vulnerable to appropriating the latest in critical theory like so much fashion. This book tries to address this synaptic deafness, and in so doing perhaps takes an unnecessarily strident tone of argument. But I can overlook the slightly paranoid edges to what is otherwise an excellent book. Stanley Rosen’s analysis of post-modern hermeneutics from a politico-historical perspective is nothing short of brilliant. The chapter “Platonic Reconstruction” is worth the cost of the entire book.