INVITATION
February 11, 2000 was the 100th birthday of Hans-Georg Gadamer, and a roundtable will be featured the Seattle 2000 NCA to mark this milestone. Although this roundtable is listed with the Rhetoric and Communication Theory Division, participation from all areas of communication is welcome, since Gadamer has had such a wide influence in so many areas of our discipline.
Solidarity or Engagement?
Seattle's theme of "engagement" highlights Gadamer's controversial approach to dialogue in a public context, his relationship with Heidegger, and his self-described incompetence in the sphere of politics. After the many years of critique and debate about Gadamer's "conservatism", "essentialism", and disengagement, a more nuanced appreciation of his work seems to be emerging, spurred on by Gadamer's own more recent comments and writings. This roundtable discussion will engage this return to Gadamer on the occasion of his 100th birthday, and ask what may be in store for another century of hermeneutic understanding.
Let the discussion begin!