An understanding of the aesthetic and hermeneutic dynamics of reading for the development of Great Books seminars

Article Sidebar


This article is under embargo until 17-05-2026. Please check the Open Access Policy of the journal under the About the journal section.

Main Article Content

José Manuel Mora-Fandos
Complutense University of Madrid

Great Books seminars are an essential element of a liberal arts university education. They are often presented as a means of participating in a grand, centuries-old conversation through the reading of literary classics and the discussion of them in the classroom. Among the formative virtues commonly cited, the personal existential involvement of students opens a path that can be explored through the contributions of 20th-century hermeneutic philosophy. Drawing on some essential characteristics of this philosophy and the reading theory of one of its leading thinkers, Paul Ricoeur, in this article we explore a series of considerations that can benefit the implementation of Great Books seminars.

Keywords
Aesthetics, Great Books Seminar, Paul Ricoeur, Reading Theory, Hermeneutics

Article Details

How to Cite
Mora-Fandos, José Manuel. “An understanding of the aesthetic and hermeneutic dynamics of reading for the development of Great Books seminars”. COMPRENDRE: Revista catalana de filosofia, 2025, vol.VOL 27, no. 2, doi:10.60940/comprendrev27n2id9900208.
Rights
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

(c) José Manuel Mora-Fandos, 2025


Copyright

The journal Comprendre is published under Creative Commons license Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike (by-nc-sa): Commercial use of the original work or any derived works is not permitted, and distribution of such works must be under a license equal that regulates the original work.

References

AZNAR, Francisco-Javier et alii, «How students perceive the university’s mission in a Spanish university: Liberal versus entrepreneurial education?». Cultura y Educación, 25/1, 2013, pp. 17-33.

CARR, David, «Four perspectives on the value of literature for moral and character education». The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 48/4, 2014, pp. 1-16.

DÁVALOS, Corina, La mediación del lenguaje en la comprensión de sí mismo según Paul Ricoeur. [Tesis doctoral. Universidad de Navarra, 2011]. Disponible en: https://dadun.unav.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/3ac424d4-4fff-46f2-a93b-04564425da57/content

DERESIEWICZ, William, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. New York: Free Press, 2014.

GADAMER, Hans-Georg, La educación es educarse. Barcelona: Paidós, 2000.

GADAMER, Hans-Georg, «Texto e interpretación». Cuaderno gris, 3, 1998, pp. 17-42.

GADAMER, Hans-Georg, Verdad y método II. Salamanca: Ediciones Sígueme, 1992.

HAN, Byung-Chul, La crisis de la narración. Barcelona: Herder, 2024.

HUTCHINS, Robert Maynard, The Great Conversation. Great Books of the Western World, Vol. I. London: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 1952.

MACINTYRE, Alasdair, «The very idea of a university: Aristotle, Newman and us». British Journal of Educational Studies, 57, 2009, pp. 347-362.

MORA-FANDOS, José Manuel, «In dialogue with Antigone: Ricoeur’s theory of reading as a tool for designing a core texts course». En BROOKS, Edward, COHEN DE LARA, Emma, SÁNCHEZ-OSTIZ, Álvaro y TORRALBA, José María (eds.), Literature and Character Education in Universities. Theory, Method, and Text Analysis. New York: Routledge, 2021, pp. 34-46.

MORA-FANDOS, José Manuel, «J. H. Newman y la generación Z. Una propuesta para hacer universidad hoy». Instituto John Henry Newman, 23 de enero de 2025. Disponible en: https://institutojohnhenrynewmanufv.com/j-h-newman-y-la-generacion-z-una-propuesta-para-hacer-universidad-hoy/ [Última consulta: 15/05/2025].

MORA-FANDOS, José Manuel, «Mito y literatura en la formación del estudiante universitario de Publicidad y Relaciones Públicas. Una aplicación de la triple mímesis de Paul Ricoeur a la lectura de grandes libros». En Misión de la Universidad en nuestros días: un enfoque transdisciplinar. Madrid: Campgràfic Editors, 2018, pp. 181-193.

NAVAL, Concepción, Educar ciudadanos. La polémica liberal-comunitarista en educación. Pamplona: Eunsa, 1995.

NIEMAN, Marietha M. y MONYAI, Reginald B., The Educator as Mediator of Learning. Pretoria: Van Schaik, 2006.

OAKESHOTT, Michael,. The Voice of Poetry in the Conversation of Mankind: An Essay. London: Bowes & Bowes, 1959.

RICOEUR, Paul, «La vida: un relato en busca de narrador». Ágora. Papeles de filosofía, 25/2, 2006, pp. 9-22.

RICOEUR, Paul, Tiempo y narración III. El tiempo narrado. México: Siglo XXI Editores, 1996.

RICOEUR, Paul, Tiempo y narración I. La configuración del relato histórico. México: Siglo XXI Editores, 2004.

RICOEUR, Paul, Sí mismo como otro. México: Siglo XXI Editores, 2006.

RICOEUR, Paul, Hermenéutica y acción. De la hermenéutica del texto a la hermenéutica de la acción. Buenos Aires: Prometeo Libros, 2008.

RICOEUR, Paul, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

SÁNCHEZ-OSTIZ, Álvaro y TORRALBA, José María, «The great books program at the university of Navarra: report on the qualitative narrative assessment of the Core Curriculum». Documentos Core Curriculum, 10, 2018, pp. 1-29.

SHRIMPTON, Paul, «More Poet than Policeman: Newman and Education ‘in a large sense of the word’». Scripta Theologica, 51, 2019, pp. 775-800.

STRAUSS, Leo, An Introduction to Political Philosophy. Ten Essays. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1975.

TORRALBA, José María, «Educación liberal Made in USA». Nuestro Tiempo, 679, abril-junio 2013, pp. 44-51.

TORRALBA, José María, «“Post-millennials”: claves intelectuales y éticas». Aceprensa, 9 septiembre de 2019 https://www.aceprensa.com/sociedad/post-millennials-claves-intelectuales-y-eticas/ [Última consulta: 15/05/2025].

TORRALBA, José María, Una educación liberal. Elogio de los grandes libros. Madrid: Encuentro, 2022.

TURKLE, Sherry, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. New York: Penguin Books, 2015.

VEDDER, Ben, Was ist Hermeneneutik? Ein Weg von der Textdeutung zur Interpretation der Wirklichkeit. Stuttgart/Berlín/Köln: Kohlhammer, 2000.

VIGO, Alejandro G., «Caridad, sospecha y verdad. La idea de la racionalidad en la hermenéutica filosófica contemporánea». En LARA, Francisco de (ed.), Entre fenomenología y hermenéutica. Franco Volpi in memoriam. Madrid: Plaza y Valdés, 2011, pp. 165-202.