Abstract

A hermeneutic is an interpretation of something that integrates understanding and application. Derived from the name of the god Hermes, and referring to his bringing the gift of language to humanity, it most often refers to interpretation and application of biblical texts. From the late nineteenth century it has been used by philosophers and literary critics to apply to a wider field of interpretation. It is different from exegesis or explanation in the scientific sense, which is divorced from practicality. ;Hans-Georg Gadamer has been instrumental in linking the idea of interpretation as the integration of explanation and application with Aristotle's idea of "practical philosophy" as found in the Ethics. He used analogies with everyday activities to illustrate ideas about interpretation of text; I turned the process around to ask whether there would be any advantage to modeling certain nonliterary activities as interpretive processes. In particular, I was interested in modeling various processes associated with medicine. The hermeneutic model does not necessarily generate more precision in descriptions of medical activities, but it does allow the model to include self-awareness. This has not been available to models of medical activity with any degree of objective content, yet treatises on the philosophy of medicine list it as an important characteristic. ;Medicine is an example of a hermeneutic activity at several levels. Medical education, the individual practice of medicine by one physician with one patient, the health care delivery system, and medical ethics are all examples of medicine as hermeneutics. Previous work in modeling of information and information processing in medicine has been based primarily on scientific or existential epistemologies. I will examine hermeneutics as a context in which models of medical information and information processing are to be judged for effectiveness. The purpose of the dissertation is to establish the validity of the hermeneutic model and to use it to evaluate several models of information and information processing in medicine.