كوئنتين اسكينر و هرمنوتيك قصد گرا در انديشه سياسي

Political Thoughts and Interpretation: Quentin Skinnerʹs Purposive Approach

What in Hermeneutics and the domain of political thought is considered as the main question: "what approach should be adopted for understanding the meaning of a text or essay?" To answer this question, textualism and theme-tendency for reviewing and interpretation of thoughts and ideas have been formed. A third approach in reaction to those two approaches has been materialized with emphasis on linguistic topics and authorʹs aim and intention. This third approach in the domain of political thought is mostly shown in the beliefs of the political thought historian, Quentin Skinner. Skinner is the professor of political science in Cambridge University. In his opinion, the text is a realization of an intentional communicative act in a particular ideological-historical and intellectual atmosphere. Each sentence contains a particular intention about a particular case or opportunity aimed at solving a particular problem. Within the domain of thought and philosophy, there are no permanent and common questions or problems and no permanent and meta-time answers. He is of the belief that in order to understand the meaning of the text which is the objective visualization of writerʹs intention and aim, it is essential to comprehend his/her thoughts. This purpose of course is not solely mental but is also a social act which finds objectivity in the time of authorʹs language. In order to comprehend the aim and intention of an author, in addition to the language and concepts of his time, it is also necessary to know the social, historical and intellectual background and foundations of his/her era.