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Step 3 of 6~8 min read~30 min left
Prejudice as Condition of Understanding
Examine Gadamer's rehabilitation of prejudice against the Enlightenment ideal.
“The overcoming of all prejudices, this global demand of the Enlightenment, will itself prove to be a prejudice, and removing it opens the way to an appropriate understanding of the finitude which dominates not only our humanity but also our historical consciousness. [...] Prejudice (Vorurteil) literally means a fore-judgment, indicating all the assumptions required to make a claim of knowledge. Behind every claim and belief lie many other tacit beliefs; it is the work of understanding to expose and subsequently affirm or negate them. [...] Prejudice-free knowledge is neither desirable nor possible. — Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method (1960), Part II, trans. Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall; IEP 'Gadamer'”