The Concept of Knowing in Wisdom and Gadamerian Perspectives

The Concept of Knowing in Wisdom and Gadamerian Perspectives

WONG Fook Kong

This paper is divided into three sections. The first section deals with Gadamer's fusion of understanding, interpretation and application. Key concepts like “prejudice,” “fusion of horizon,” the role of language, and the role of translation are discussed. Gadamer's understanding of the role of application in the process of understanding/interpretation is also explained. The second section deals with biblical wisdom's understanding of understanding. Firstly it is pointed out that the meaning of wisdom in Hebrew is sufficiently broad that it covers many of the meanings implied in the Greek words techne, episteme, and Phronesis. Furthermore, the book of Proverbs is replete with Phronesis (practical wisdom). A fusion of reflective and practical wisdom is found in Job and Ecclesiastes. Job also offers an example of Plato's concept of kairos (ie, the correct use of knowledge at the proper time), howbeit negatively; the problem with Job's friends were not that they lacked knowledge but that they lacked practical wisdom to apply the correct knowledge to Job's situation. The third section borrows Joel Weinsheimer's explanation of application in Gadamerian thought to show how it is relevant to biblical interpretation. The central point is that careful deliberation is needed in the process of application because no two situations are alike, and we are not living in the world of the Bible. Thus, hermeneutics, like moral and legal deliberations, requires practical wisdom.