Introduction

Whether it is recognized or not, every hermeneutic theory presupposes some account of the nature of meaning. This introduction describes how the present book brings this thought to bear on the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer. The central thesis of the book is that Gadamer conceives of meaning as an event that transpires when readers approach texts in an appropriate way, as opposed to a representational object that the reader must discover. Attending to this ‘event semantics’ in Gadamer’s work sheds new light on his overall project. The introduction ends with an overview of the upcoming chapters.