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In this article I will try to provide some elements for establishing a sui generis hermeneutics, that is a "hermeneutics of recognition", referring to certain texts considered as symbols. In order to do this, I need to restore the etymological meaning of the term symbol (< O.Gr. symbolon), analysing, first of all, the word as a symbol, as it was defined by Aristotle. In this regard, I will appeal to important thinkers such as Eugenio Coseriu, Hans-Georg Gadamer, José Ortega y Gasset and others. Leaving apart the classic types of texts which were recorded by Liddell & Scott's Lexicon as symbola (e.g. political or commercial treaties), I will also mention the Christian Credo and I will particularly discuss the famous exchange of letters between Alexander the Great and Aristotle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this preliminary note, the editor justifies the publication of this special issue of "Acta Universitatis Danubius. Communicatio" devoted to Eugenio Coseriu's commemoration, 20 years after his death. At the same time, he presents the content of the texts written or translated on this very occasion, texts which deal with matters concerning semiotics, text linguistics and hermeneutics from a Coserian perspective. Moreover, mention must be made that two of the selected texts belong to Coseriu himself and are published here for the first time in a Romanian version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although I will also refer to an influent analogy made by Francis Bacon and to R.G. Collingwood's explanation concerning it, however, my article will mainly deal with John Dewey's ideas in this regard. John Dewey developped a special logic, which he named the theory of inquiry. Dewey's logic can be considered, actually, an integral hermeneutics, since it also examines the meanings which man creates when interpreting nature. According to Dewey, sciences are systems of related meanings obtained through inquiry. An inquiry follows a certain pattern, by transforming, in a controlled way, an indeterminate, confusing situation into a determinate one, which, thus, gets meaning. A problematic situation can be clarified only if it is transposed linguistically in our mind. How can we get, by means of inquiry, to the individual meaning of a concrete situation, by using the meanings already acquired in a certain field? Dewey states that individual meaning can be obtained as a result of articulating a judgment, which arises from a chain of logical propositions. They can be either (i) existential propositions (which extract the relevant data from concrete situations) or (ii) conceptual propositions (which direct inquiries towards the best way to solve the given situations). These propositions collaborate. The existential ones are similar to the workers who (selectively) excavate ancient objects from ruins. The conceptual ones are like the archeologists who establish the meaning of the objects found by the workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking as a point of departure Francis Bacon's famous aphorism ("Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed"), I will present and comment on an original interpretation given to this principle by John Dewey, who highly appreciated the aforementioned English philosopher. At the same time, I will try to emphasize some aspects regarding a sui generis deontology of the hermeneutical activity, especially for the field of natural sciences, since every researcher is also an interpreter of facts and theories. I believe that the respectful attitude revealed and promoted by John Dewey, in relation to Nature, can contribute to establishing such a deontology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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My article aims at presenting a hermeneutical principle - the principle of trust - which guided Eugenio Coseriu in his activity as an interpreter of philosophical and scientific texts. In the studies of hermeneutics, such a principle can be found under different names: the principle of charity, the principle of equity, etc. What I want to demonstrate here is that, according to Coseriu's conception (based on a solid philosophy of language), the principle of trust goes beyond the sphere of hermeneutics proper, characterizing the whole human communication, thus being crucial for any normal act of concrete communication. Consequently, such a principle does not only belong to hermeneutics, but also to the very deontology of language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I aim at making a survey and commenting on a series of queries regarding the way in which Coseriu's text linguistics has been received in the Romanian academic/scientific circles. The respective queries were expressed by Eugenio Coseriu himself, Nicolae Manolescu, Ioan S. Cârâc and by other specialists. At the same time, I intend to discuss about some possibilities of applying text linguistics, in accordance with the work already written by the famous Romanian linguist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]