Document Type : Specialized article
Authors
1
Graduate of Level 4 , in Tafsir and Quranic Sciences, Jamiʿat al-Zahra
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Tafsir and Quranic Sciences, Al-Mustafa Open University; Member, Department of Tafsir and Quranic Sciences, Jamiʿat al-Zahra
Abstract
The issue of “objectivity of meaning” is a fundamental topic in the field of text comprehension, as the interpreter, in the process of interpretation, seeks to attain a disciplined and reliable meaning from the text; in the event of denying objectivity, meaning becomes subject to endless fluidity and multiplicity. This research, focusing on the relationship between “objectivity of meaning” and the possibility of understanding, conducts an analytical study of this issue in Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics and Allameh Tabatabai’s method of Quranic exegesis. The central question of the research is: How is the objectivity of meaning defined in Gadamer’s view and Allameh Tabatabai’s interpretive method, and to what extent can the possibility of attaining the objective-final meaning of the text be defended based on their respective foundations? The research method is descriptive-analytical, based on library data collection. In the content section, Gadamer’s foundations regarding the historicity of understanding, prejudices, and the role of the interpreter’s horizon in the realization of meaning are first explained, and then Allameh Tabatabai’s exposition of meaning and the text’s intent within the framework of the “interpreting the Quran by the Quran” method and his conception of the revelatory text as having a directive and disciplined connotation are examined. The findings indicate that in Gadamer’s view, although understanding the text is possible and meaningful, due to historicity and the unavoidable participation of the interpreter’s horizon, as well as the lack of definitive access to the author’s intent in the classical sense, “objectivity of meaning” cannot be guaranteed as a single, final, and supra-temporal meaning; rather, meaning is realized in diverse ways across different horizons. In contrast, from Allameh Tabatabai’s perspective, the Quran, as a divine text, possesses an objective and disciplined meaning. While human mastery over the essence of divine knowledge and intent is impossible, this does not necessitate the denial of the objectivity and finality of the text’s meaning; rather, a valid understanding of the Quran’s intent can be attained through the rules of linguistic signification and internal textual clues. The conclusion indicates that the difference between these two approaches stems from their distinct epistemological and textual foundations: Gadamer emphasizes “meaning realization within the horizon of understanding,” while Allameh emphasizes “stability of connotation and the possibility of discovering the objective intent of the Quran” based on interpretive principles
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