Belonging to and Distanciating from: reflections on Gadamer's hermeneutics, critical pedagogy, and the concept of tradition

Discussions about the Gadamer-Habermas debate continue in philosophy. But in philosophy of education, Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics is usually accused of conservatism by the defenders of critical pedagogy, and there are few studies in defense of the critical power of Gadamer's hermeneutics. In Iran, official education reform documents emphasize both guarding and reconstructing tradition, but in practice, this balance seems ambiguous. Through re-reading Gadamer's hermeneutics, this paper analyzes the critical elements of tradition. In this way, it provides a defense of education based on philosophical hermeneutics and a model for confronting traditions in education. The central claim of this study is that Gadamer's understanding of tradition has both a descriptive expression as an educational basis and a normative expression as an educational principle. The ground for the realization of both is learning through negativity. In this context, historically effected consciousness, considering tradition as an answer to a question, critical distanciation from tradition, and application of tradition will be the most important critical elements that distinguish Gadamer's hermeneutics from conservative and traditionalist hermeneutics.