Interpretandum

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The term interpretandum comes from Latin and is the gerundive form of interpretare (= to interpret), literally meaning “to be mediated”. An interpretandum is therefore that which precedes an interpretation : that which is to be interpreted.

This does not necessarily mean that an interpretandum is always interpreted or can be interpreted, but only that it is intended for an interpretation. Something that was not originally intended for an interpretation can also be interpreted and thus made an interpretandum by the person who interprets (or who attempts to interpret) (= the interpreter). Incidentally, every dialogue can be understood as a sequence of interpreters and interpretations (see Understanding ).

Since in principle almost everything (for example utterance, text, piece of music, work of art, object, measurement result) can be interpreted, the term “interpretandum” describes something ubiquitous , omnipresent that does not need to be explicitly named. This should also be the reason why it can be largely dispensed with in everyday life, while its counterpart (or generic term, see below), the interpretation , is a frequently used foreign word or loan word in the German language.

Wherever you want to get to the bottom of the logical structure of an interpretation, it can make sense to name the interpretandum, to explain it . Examples of this are the areas of clarification and explanation , interpretation and meaning , teaching and learning , understanding and communication and, as fields of science, semiotics , hermeneutics and communication theory in the narrower sense, while in the broader sense all sciences contain processes of interpretation.

Language of logic

In deviation from the above usage, in which the interpretandum precedes the interpretation as an antecedent , in the language of logic the interpretandum is understood as part of the interpretation (which is thus conceptually broader): Here an interpretation consists of the interpretandum (that is to be interpreted) and the interpretant (Interpretative), as an explanation also consists of explanandum and explanans (see also DN model ), that is:

Interpretandum + Interpretans = interpretation.

literature

  • Klaus Foppa (1984): Intention to Speech and Understanding . Manuscripts 23, 73-76.
  • Mark Galliker & Daniel Weimer (2006): Psychology of Understanding: An Introduction to Communicative Practice . Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. ISBN 3-17-018848-8
  • Carl Gustav Hempel and Paul Oppenheim (1948): Studies in the Logic of Explanation . Philosophy of Science 15, 135-175; reproduced in Carl Gustav Hempel: Aspects of Scientific Explanation .
  • Günter Mey (2000, June): Recognize and use scope for interpretation - reflections for understanding meaning . Review essay on: Jürgen Straub (1999): Action, Interpretation, Criticism. Basics of a text-based action and cultural psychology [21 paragraphs]. Forum Qualitative Social Research / Forum: Qualitative Social Research [On-line Journal], 1 (2). Available from: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/2-00/2-00review-mey-d.htm [date of access: April 30, 2006]. ISSN  1438-5627