Hermeneutics and Philosophy in the Thought of Reza Davari Ardakani

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy and Islamic Theology, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran

2 Professor of Theoretical Sociology, Social Sciences Research Institute, Research Instituter Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

This article examines the foundational and critical role of hermeneutics and its relation to philosophy in the intellectual framework of Reza Davari Ardakani from the perspective of social critical theory. In Davari’s thought, hermeneutics is not merely an academic discipline or an interpretive method; rather, it is philosophy itself insofar as it confronts the crisis of the contemporary age. Through a critical dialogue with Heidegger and by employing phenomenological–hermeneutic tools, Davari seeks to diagnose and critique the modern interpretation of the world and the human being. The article demonstrates how Davari, by deconstructing key elements such as instrumental rationality and the dominance of method, attributes the identity crisis of the humanities to the unreflective acceptance of this very modern interpretation. Within this framework, he conceptualizes Westoxification not as a social phenomenon, but as a hermeneutical pathology. In response to this impasse, and drawing on his intellectual affinity with Gadamer, Davari does not propose a new ideology as a solution; instead, he advocates a sustained intellectual practice grounded in dialogue and the fusion of horizons between indigenous tradition and Western modernity. The ultimate aim of the article is to safeguard the possibility of authentic thinking and to articulate hermeneutics as a fundamental political philosophy concerned with the conditions of possibility for responsible existence in the present historical situation.

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Hermeneutics and Philosophy in the Thought of Reza Davari Ardakani

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References

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 20, Issue 55 - Serial Number 55
Articles
Issue 55, Summer 2026
July 2026
Pages 353-374

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