Units timetabled for 2013 and 2014 are provisional only, and details of semester and time will change. The official timetable for each year is released on 1 September of the prior year.

Archived unit descriptions for 2011 are available here.

Hermeneutics

Unit Code: 
AP220/320
RTI: 
United Faculty of Theology
Unit Value: 
15 points

The unit explores issues in hermeneutics from a philosophical perspective, keeping in mind the engagement of that perspective with the theological, in the interpretation of biblical and other texts. Following a survey of traditional hermeneutic models, the unit focusses on modern developments. It moves from Schleiermacher, Dilthey and Gadamer to the contributions of structuralists, poststructuralists and others to the question of how textual meaning might be authoritatively determined.

Learning Outcomes: 

Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:

  1. articulate fundamental issues attending textual interpretation
  2. distinguish modern interpretive approaches from traditional methods
  3. discuss the particular challenges confronting Biblical interpretation
  4. identify a range of interpretive approaches to texts
  5. (level 3 only) discuss the relationship between theological stances and interpretive approaches
Lecturer/s: 
John Martis
Timetabling
Semester: 
Semester 2
Day: 
Thursday
Time: 
10 - 1
Location: 
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Unit Frequency: 
Occasional
Years Offered: 
2011
Unit Fields
Courses: 
Bachelor of Theology
Courses: 
Bachelor of Ministry
Field: 
Field A Humanities
Disciplines: 
Philosophy
Department Name: 
Department of Philosophy
Unit Level
Undergraduate Level: 
2
Undergraduate Level: 
3
Prerequisites: 

Level 2: 15 points of Biblical Studies at level 1 and 15 points of either Philosophy or Systematic Theology at level 1

Level 3: 15 points of Biblical Studies at level 1 and 15 points of either Philosophy or Systematic Theology at level 2

Mode of Teaching: 
Semester
Teaching Methods: 

Lectures and tutorials

Workload
Number of timetabled hours per week: 
3
Expected personal study hours per week: 
6
Total workload hours per week: 
9
Total workload hours for unit: 
108
Assessment
Assessment TypeWeightingLearning Outcomes Assessed
Assessment Type: 

Level 2: 1 x 2500 word essay

Level 3: 1 x 3000 word essay

Weighting: 
50%
Assessment Type: 

Level 2: 1 x 2500 word essay

Level 3: 1 x 3000 word essay

Weighting: 
50%
Recommended reading: 

* = set texts recommended for purchase

The Bible and Culture Collective (eds).The Postmodern Bible. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.

Bleicher, Josef (ed).Contemporary Hermeneutics: Hermeneutics as Method, Philosophy, and Critique. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980.

Caputo, John D. Radical Hermeneutics: Repetition, Deconstruction and the Hermeneutic Project. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.

Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.     

* Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008.

* Palmer, Richard E. Hermeneutics: Interpretation Theory in Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, and Gadamer. Chicago: Northwestern University Press, 1969.

Tracy, D. Plurality and Ambiguity: Hermeneutics, Religion, Hope.  San Francisco, Harper and Row, 1987.

Schneiders, S. M.The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Scripture.  San Francisco: Harper, 1991.

Wilson, Barrie A. (compiler). About Interpretation : from Plato to Dilthey : A Hermeneutic Anthology. New York: Peter Lang, 1989.

© United Faculty of Theology, 2008-2012.