Rigorous Reasoning

Concept · Foundations

Hermeneutic Circle

The principle that understanding a whole text requires understanding its parts, and understanding each part requires understanding the whole.

Why it matters

The circle is the central structural insight of hermeneutics and guides all careful reading.

Where this shows up

Units and lessons using this concept

Following the links will take you to the page where this term is introduced in context.

Related

Other concepts in Foundations

A, E, I, O PropositionsAccessibility RelationArgumentAtomic StatementAuthorial IntentBase RateBayes FactorBurden of Proof in InterpretationCalibrationCardinalityCartesian ProductCategorical Proposition