Hermeneutics of Suspicion as a Research Method in Social Sciences

The word “hermeneutics” implies the idea that in humanities and social sciences, there is only one hermeneutic methodological approach, while there are various methodological hermeneutics approaches. In order to study the social life, hermeneutics uses two models i.e. hermeneutics of recovery andhermeneutics of suspicion. Traditional or recovery hermeneutics approach as a qualitative research method in social sciences, tries to acquire a first-hand knowledge from social actors, but contemporary or suspicion hermeneutics seeks to understand and penetrate to the flow of everyday self-understanding and reveal the reality and the right and bottom true meaning of social action. This paper, using documentary method, tries to highlight and introduce the suspicion hermeneutics as one of appropriate methods for social studies. Results indicate that suspicion hermeneutics claims that the understanding which traditional or recovery hermeneutics emphasizes on, is itself fundamentally flawed, and the understanding that comes with this type of hermeneutics is only a mask of the underlying reality. While from the point of view of suspicion hermeneutics, the suitable goal for the social sciences is influencing the flow of everyday self-awareness and revealing the truth and meaning of social action, which has a close relationship with social sciences scholars’ emphasis on the fluidity of everyday life.