

On the interpretive nature of Hertz's mechanics
pp. 97-115
in: Babette Babich (ed), Hermeneutic philosophy of science, van Gogh's eyes, and God, Berlin, Springer, 2002Abstract
For several years I have been engaged in philosophy of the natural sciences from a hermeneutic phenomenological point of view. In my critical, philosophical reflections on the history of the natural sciences, mainly physics, I have been able to develop this hermeneutic phenomenology of natural science in a somewhat more systematic manner. In this process it has gradually become clear to me that the natural sciences themselves, too, are genuine, interpretive endeavors so that one can speak legitimately of the interpretive or hermeneutic nature of natural science.