Abstract
This project explores how political vocabularies and interpretive frameworks shape our capacity for genuine democratic dialogue. Through the lens of philosophical hermeneutics, I examine how institutions maintain hermeneutical injustice by privileging certain interpretations while marginalizing others. Beginning with Gadamer's insights on prejudice and tradition, I develop the concept of "constitutional determinism" to describe how dominant narratives about American history close off political possibilities and prevent meaningful engagement with our shared past. I argue that healthy democratic politics requires viewing hermeneutics as an ecosystem that needs active maintenance and equitable distribution of interpretive resources. Drawing on thinkers like Miranda Fricker and Hannah Arendt, I demonstrate how the degradation of this ecosystem creates conditions where fascist tendencies can flourish, while showing that renewed dialogical engagement with tradition offers a path toward more open and just political understanding.
Advisor
Weber, Désirée
Department
Political Science
Recommended Citation
Yahia, Yahia A., "Towards an equal Landscape of Understanding: Dialogue in an Age of Political Closure" (2025). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 11268.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/11268
Keywords
Political Discourse, Hermeneutics
Publication Date
2025
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2025 Yahia A. Yahia