The Subjective Approach and Acceptability of Criteria in the Interpretation of Texts

One of the fundamental issues in the interpretation of texts is acceptability of criteria since the validity of interpretation is based on the validity of criteria. The goal of interpretation of texts, particularly the sacred texts, is to recognize the intention of the author. Hence the current approach in the interpretation of the texts, especially the sacred ones, is based on the acceptability of criteria which had been the dominant hermeneutical tradition in the west for a long time but it encountered with considerable challenges since the subjective approaches of interpretation rise in the recent period. In this article, we criticize the arguments of approaches in question, concluding that the main problem with these approaches is neglecting the objective realities as well as the rationalist and linguistic principles. Not only the proofs do not support the event of understanding as well as independence and indeterminacy of the meaning of text, but also they are inconsistent with the goal and intention of the author, especially regarding the sacred texts.