Schleiermacher's View on Realization of Understanding

The modern hermeneutics era began with Schleiermacher's attempts to expand the scope of hermeneutics. He declared misunderstanding natural. While admitting its being customary and inevitable, he concluded that understanding is always an act of interpretation. In his view, every act of understanding involves two modes of interpretation, i.e. grammatical interpretation and technical (also called psychological) interpretation. The former addresses the linguistic functions and features of text while the latter views the text as the realization of author's individuality, and studies it according to his/her dealing with the language. In Schleiermacher's belief, in each mode of interpretation, understanding and interpretation take place in a circular process known as hermeneutic circle. The grammatical interpretation focuses on physical aspects of text, i.e. the whole text and its individual parts. On the contrary, technical interpretation addresses the author's individuality. Understanding of author's individuality is made possible only when the interpreter makes guesses and comparisons with himself in order to find a way to the author's mental world.