Interpretation as the Kinesis and Entelékheia of the Text

Abstract

  The purpose of the study is a holistic analysis of the nature of the text and its interpretation, based on Aristotelian categories - entelechy, energy, kinetics and temporality in the philosophy of Aristotle and Heidegger.  

  “The act is an end and the being-at-work is the act and since energeia is named from the ergon it also extends to the being-at-an-end (entelékheia)” (Metaphysics 1050a 21-23), - Joe Sachs. Aristotle: Movement.

  The word entelechy has a similar meaning to energy. It is derived from the Greek words - τέλος (telos), which means the end - the achievement of a goal, and - exein, which means being, immutability, maintaining a state. Aristotle's neologisms -  entelékheia and energy, can be translated as - being in constant change, without losing selfhood (Sachs 1995 - entelecheia as being-at-work-staying-itself).

  Entelekheia is an action leading to the final goal, and the structure of the sub-targets drives energy.

   The category of movement is universal in the philosophy of Aristotle. He defines kinesis as change, whether it manifests itself as a material process, or - thinking, storytelling, reading, etc.

  Suppose we characterize the relationship with the text as a process of distributing words in time and space - their kinetics, energy, and entelekheia. In that case, we must keep in mind that the accessibility of the text as a whole is associated with the peculiarities of interpreting the essence of the of movement.

  Words are distributed in the imagination (φαντασία), the sensory representational system (SRS), in the form of visual, auditory, sensory and kinesthetic (motion perception) sensations and modalities and are transformed into neurological states of the organism.

  The question of the integrity of the text goes beyond the boundaries of the word itself, and includes the body as the space for birth and enactment of the word.

  The mechanism of interpretation has a temporal nature, which is based on the act of semiosis - a whole-personality modification (mood) of the word and body, what Aristotle calls the first entelecheia, the driver - "thinking related to matter (λόγοι ἔνυλοι)".

  An example can be cited as a theatrical action, the nature of which is to spread words in time and space, on stage. Their transformation into a visible, moving, living world where every physical activity is conditioned by intangible and spiritual reasons - the energy and entelekheia of text.

  As soon as the word acquires the body, and represents itself on stage, the problem of hermeneutics of the text arises, which is essentially related to the question of perception and understanding of its dynamics in time and space, the temporal nature of the holistic interpretation of the text, which is described through the model of the hermeneutic circle.

  Interpretation is an attribute of the text; it is connected with the hermeneutic strategy of movement in the system of its meanings.

  Access to the meaning of each topical moment of a text, or theatrical performance, requires its interpretation - comprehension in a whole temporal context, not only in connection with the past, but also based on anticipation of the future.

  Text interpretation develops in three directions of integral, temporal analysis: - the feeling of the moment here and at present, the accessibility of its meaning-introspection; Revision and understanding of the already past path, bundle of narrative history, summary of energies - retrospection; Constructing the targeted structure of the future (entelecheia) - anticipation, reconstruction.

  The semantics of this moment are determined not only by the feeling of the situation here and at present, the analysis of the past path and its connection to the present but also by the vector of text development in the future.

  Anticipation of the future is a key element of the hermeneutic circle pattern—the energy that enables a holistic interpretation of the present moment of the text and its history.

The Hermeneutic circle model is characterized by the dynamism of opposite vectors of kinesis - 1) interpretation of an ascending, projective vector: retrospection - introspection, - projection; 2) descending vector interpretation: anticipation – reconstruction. The result of the interpretation is the semantic reconstruction of the entire text.

  In the process of interaction with the text, the act of accessing the meaning of each moment here and now is a superposition of two temporal vector functions – the projection of anticipation!

  Understanding a certain place in the book requires remembering the previous pages, though its true meaning is revealed only after finishing the book’s last page.

References:

1. Joe Sachs. Aristotle: Movement. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/aristotle-motion/
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1. David Amirejib, 2023. "Analysis of the scene of " The Mousetrap " in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in terms of psychosynthesis", "Text and Interpretation" Peer-reviewed, electronic, bilingual scientific journal  of the Faculty of Humanities of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (ISSN 2960-9461). https://interpretation.tsu.ge/index.php/main/article/view/2 https://interpretation.tsu.ge/index.php/main/article/view/2/2