THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND METAPHYSICAL FOUNDATIONS IN THE METHODOLOGIES OF THE HUMAN SCIENCES IN GADAMER’S PHILOSOPHY

After the natural sciences achieved remarkable accomplishments following their liberation from the authority of the Church and the adoption of the scientific method, other sciences hastened to emulate them in the hope of attaining similar results, including the human sciences. As a result, numerous studies in the human sciences emerged; however, they remained unable to keep pace with the advancements realised by science, leading to a crisis within the human sciences. Amidst this conflict, hermeneutics appeared as a methodology of understanding capable of studying the human sciences objectively, since the human phenomenon requires interpretation, in contrast to the natural sciences, which demand explanation. The discussion regarding the problem of methodology in the human sciences resurfaced after proponents of the scientific method succeeded in overturning the dominance of the Church and liberating thought from the control of the clergy. The earliest signs of the methodological crisis in the human sciences appeared with the emergence of the conflict between qualitative methodologies and positivist methodologies in the quest for truth. The human phenomenon did not attract the attention of researchers until the nineteenth century, as all interests had previously focused on nature. Consequently, the human sciences found themselves facing a dilemma: either to adopt the scientific method in the hope of achieving results similar to those of the natural sciences or to develop a methodology suited to their nature. This conflict persisted until the human sciences had the opportunity to forge their path and free themselves from dependence on the natural sciences, after which it became evident that the methodologies used in the sciences were limited in their applicability to human phenomena owing to the distinct nature of each.