The Gadamerian reception of Unamuno’s work: the beginning of the hermeneutical turn

Abstract

In a 1975 article entitled “Subjectivity and intersubjectivity, subject and person”, an article that starts Hermeneutik im Rückblick (1995), Gadamer points out that at the beginning of the 20th century there is a new critical turn against the concept of “system of the philosophy”, which is confirmed in response to the problem of intersubjectivity. There, in just more than one line, Gadamer points out the magnitude and influence of Unamuno’s work in this turn of philosophy: “el comienzo parece que estuvo en España, donde Unamuno sirvió de inspiración a toda una nueva generación” (2007, 12)
The objective of this work is to make a reading about the Gadamerian reception of Unamuno’s work aimed at providing a possible answer about the reasons that led the German philosopher to make such a statement. Following this line, I also try to investigate what was in Unamuno’s work of interest to Gadamer, beyond the existentialist reading that had developed until then.
To do this, first, and to contextualize, I will briefly review the reception of Unamuno’s work in Germany, and I will review the research of the last 30 years that frame Unamuno’s studies under the koiné of the time: hermeneutics; which allows to review his work outside the existentialist framework. Then, and as a more important point, I will indicate and argue, based on Unamuno’s texts, about the reasons that support the Gadamerian affirmation that places the Basque philosopher as the initiator of the hermeneutical turn.