Wirkungsgeschichte and Phenomenology of Spirit. Hegelian traces in Gadamer's Fusion of Horizons

Abstract

The fusion of horizons constitutes an architectural key for Gadamerian hermeneutics. Together with the concept of historical-effectual consciousness, Gadamer proposes it as a fundamental condition for understanding and hermeneutical experience in general. However, if we analyze how the fusion of horizons happens, it is evident that it cannot evade paradoxical consequences that Gadamer tries to overcome through arguments, which bring us back to the experience of consciousness in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit. In this essay, we develop the outlines of this phenomenological aspect of the fusion of horizons.