The textuality in the hermeneutics of Unamuno

Abstract

This work aims to present the expanded conception of text that Unamuno develops in his epistemology of human and social sciences. This broad sense of the text allows him to widen the horizon of expressive means to inquire into history and find the Spanish being. First, I briefly point out the background and studies that allow us to place unamunian epistemology within the framework of the hermeneutical paradigm. Second, I develop Unamuno's criticism of the primacy of reflexivity around the problem of knowledge. This allows Unamuno to investigate other cognitive models that recognize the provenance eluded by the Cartesian thesis but, at the same time, assume the proper distancing of scientific knowledge. Third, I develop three instances of knowledge through language: the spoken language, the written word and the text in an expanded sense as an epistemic foundation. The latter constitutes for Unamuno the ideal resource for historical-social inquiry. Finally, this conception of textuality allows Unamuno to point out that it is the raw material for the humanities and social sciences.