The Beginning of Knowledge (trans. Rod Coltman)

Hans-Georg Gadamer

London: Continuum, 2001. 
ISBN: 0826411959 (hb), pp. 148, £15.99 

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Practical Philosophy  (Book Reviews) Spring 2003 Volume 6.1

Reviewed by: Trevor Curnow

This is a collection of six essays written over sixty years, loosely linked by the fact that they all bear in some way or another on the Presocratics. Two main themes run through the essays. First, there is the attempt to unearth the meanings of the fragmentary texts that survive, and, secondly, there is the consideration of what relevance the Presocratics have today. The fact that these are entirely separate essays rather than chapters of a book leads to a certain amount of repetition on the one hand and some gaps in the argument on the other. Nevertheless, they hang together reasonably well and it is noteworthy that despite the protracted period over which they were composed they yield a remarkably consistent picture.

 

One of the point Gadamer insists on, in keeping with the importance he attaches to hermeneutics, is that even a few words need to be put into their correct context in order for us to understand them properly. In the case of the Presocratics, the contextual problem has two parts to it. First, the fragments of their writings that have been preserved are to be found in the works of others, not only those of Plato and Aristotle, but also those of early Christian writers. These works have their own agendas which need to be constantly be borne in mind. Secondly, however, the Presocratics themselves were thinking and writing during a substantially earlier period, and were engaging in the intellectual debates of their own times. On this point, Gadamer has some illuminating observations to offer on the difference between ancient and modern atomism, for example.

 

The most interesting essays to my mind are those dealing with Heraclitus (‘On the Tradition of Heraclitus’ and ‘Heraclitus Studies’), written nearly sixteen years apart and occupying nearly half of the book. Here Gadamer the hermeneutist is at his best. He teases the last ounce of meaning out of phrases and pithy sayings scattered throughout a variety of sources with an array of techniques and plausibly derives a core Heraclitean philosophy from them. He skilfully relates observations concerning the soul, fire, change, and logos (amongst other things) both to each other and to the predominant philosophical concerns of Heraclitus’s own time. It is not necessary to agree with his conclusions in order to appreciate the intellectual tour de force that paves the way to them. (My one complaint is that chunks of Greek are sometimes allowed to stand untranslated.)

 

Overall, Gadamer wants to argue that the Presocratics do have things of importance and relevance to say to us. What came later not only followed them but also built on them (if only, in some cases, by articulating arguments against them). However, he also reminds us that in order to appreciate the full significance of what they had to say, we need to expend considerable effort in coming to a proper understanding of them.

 

 

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