Saint Anthony Academy

Batuan, Bohol, Philippines

Member: Bohol Association of Catholic Schools ( BACS)
Catholic Education Association of the Philippines (CEAP)
DISCIPLINES AND IDEAS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 11

Name:___________________________ Year & Section:___________________________

Date:______________________________ Score: __________________
ACTIVITY NO. 10
Topic: Hermeneutical Phenomenology and Human-Environment Systems
Competencies: 1. Distinguish the ways by which human-environment interactions shape cultural and natural
landscapes
2. Interpret thematic and mental maps to understand landscape changes and an individual’s
sense of place
Objective: Identify the basic concepts of Hermeneutical Phenomenology and Human-Environment
Systems
Concept Notes:
Hermeneutical phenomenology is a philosophy of and a method for interpreting human experiences as a
means to understand the question of what it is to be human. This philosophy was developed by Martin Heidegger
(1889-1976) as a continuation ad divergence from phenomenology, the philosophy developed by his mentor and
colleagues, Edmund Husserl (1859-1938). Hermeneutical phenomenology is sometimes referred to as
interpretative phenomenology or existential phenomenology, while phenomenology
A. BASIC CONCEPTS OF HERMENEUTICAL PHENOMENOLOGY
 HERMENEUTICAL PHENOMENOLOGY – is a qualitative research methodology that arose out of
and remains closely tied to phenomenological philosophy, a strand of continent philosophy.
Phenomenology refers to a person’s perception of the meaning of an event, as opposed to the event as
exist externally to (outside of) that person
 HERMENEUTICS - In the study of literary texts, scholars frequently adhere to a set of rules or a
specific system on which to base their interpretation. Similarly, the interpretation of non- literary texts,
such as art or philosophy, may also require adherence to such a method. The specific rules used to
interpret and understand a text are known collectively as hermeneutics.
 HERMENEUTIC ANALYSIS Hermeneutic Analysis is a name for various methods of analysis, which
are based on interpreting. The strategy forms an opposite to those research strategies which stress
objectivity and independence of interpretations in the formations in formation of knowledge.
 HERMENEUTIC RESEARCH Hermeneutic research enables you to make interpretations and gain an
in-depth understanding of the researched phenomenon. Hermeneutic research emphasizes subjective
interpretations in the research of meanings of texts, art, culture, social phenomena and thinking.
 PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS Phenomenological analysis is based on discussions and
reflections of direct sense perception and experiences of the researched phenomenon. A starting point of
the strategy is your ability to approach a project without a priori assumptions, definitions or theoretical
frameworks. A key aspect of this method of analysis is phenomenological reduction
 PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH enables you to explore experiences and sensory perception
(different to abstract perceptions) of researched phenomenon, and the formation of understanding based
on these experiences and perceptions. Your research strategy is based, therefore, on either your own or
other people’s experiences and sensory perceptions. (Alfornon 2019)
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HERMENEUTICAL PHENOMENOLOGY:
 In hermeneutical phenomenology, data and their significance provide a catalyst for which reflection and
interpretation results in meaning. As a research methodology, it is qualitative by conventional
descriptions, and can be thoroughly applied to any social science research. (Alejandria-Gonzalez 2016)
 We live in the world: in history, in concretion: we do not live anywhere else, and all meaning is only
meaning in relation to particular, concrete, historical existence.
 Our existence as beings includes: our situation, our tools-to-hand with and through which we manipulate
and articulate the world; and our fore- understandings of the world.
 We share reality through common signs. We cannot share anyone else’s reality except through the
mediation of our symbolic world- that is through a ‘text’ of some sort, which text has a context- in fact,
many contexts.
 Our symbolic world is not separate from our beings in regard to language.
 While experience is present to us through signification, experience is not just language, or signifying
systems generally; experience preexists signification at the same time as signification brings it into
meaning.
  In phenomenology, it might be said that speech precedes writing: there is always a self-presence before
there is signification, and there is always something of our being-in-the world beyond its signification.

 All consciousness is consciousness of. Consciousness intends, has an object, is towards something. As
self-consciousness as well as other consciousness is intentional, this means that at the heart of being there
is distance.
 Self-understanding is a cultural act, and culture is a personal act. In order to ‘understand’ one must ‘fore-
understand’, have a stance, an anticipation and a contextualization. This is known as the ‘hermeneutic
circle’
 Similarly, one can only know the world through fore-understanding, but the world, as it is concrete and
exceeds our signification of it, forces us to revise our fore-understandings.
 Following on point 10 above, one reads with a wholeness of presence, as one’s fore-understanding is a
wholeness of presence.
 That which constitutes our reality, our symbolic world, has a limit, or ‘horizon’, beyond which we cannot
‘see’.
 The text is cut off from its original context and its thrust into an alien context through the act of reading.
The reader’s horizon meets the text’s horizon: the reader reads with his/her understanding and frames of
reference.
 The text embodies the ‘style’ of the author, the inscription of his/her individuality, the unconscious as well
as conscious understanding of and orientation toward the world and the subject area which is known as
intentionality.
 The very function of form ‘opens up’ the text for a dialogue in a way that texts with less ‘form’ do.
(Abulencia, et al. 2017)

IMPORTANT THEORISTS IN HERMENEUTICAL PHENOMENOLOGY

1. EDMUND HUSSERL (1859-1938) was a German philosopher and is referred to as the Father of
Phenomenology. The aim of phenomenology is to gain an understanding of the underlying
structures found in everyday experiences of how consciousness can grasp these concepts.
2. MARTIN HEIDEGGER (1889-191976) was a German philosopher
who was known to have popularized hermeneutical phenomenology. For him, the biases that Husserl tries
to remove through phenomenological reduction are influences which cannot be totally removed from
experiencing the world.
3. HANS-GEORG GADAMER (1900-2002) was a German philosopher who argued that it is historical
tradition that enables people to understand one another and interpret texts.
4. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY (1908-1961) was a French philosopher who further elaborated on man
being-in-the-world by giving particular attention to the body.
5. JEAN PAUL SARTRE (1905-1980) was a French philosopher who popularized the philosophy of
existentialism. Existence and essence are two philosophical terms that are central to Sartre’s existential
thought. (Alejandria-Gonzalez 2016)
A. BASIC CONCEPTS OF HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEMS
 HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEMS are interactions between the human social system and the
ecosystem. These systems are both complex and adaptive. They combine both human and natural
components to show complex interactions, and feedback between them.
 ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE- caused by a perturbation to the landscape system as a result of
internal or external natural disturbance or human-induced disturbance.
 ENVIRONMENTAL THRESHOLD- refers to a point whereby the environment changes from one
phase or trajectory to another.
 SENSITIVITY- (in relation to responses to change) refers to the high susceptibility of the landscape to
external impact.
 RESILIENCE- it is defined as the magnitude of disturbance that a system can experience before It
moves into a different state or ‘stability domain’
 ADAPTATION- the ability of an organism, human or non-human, to survive and reproduce itself in a
particular environment. (Abulencia, et al. 2017)
 SENSE OF PLACE- refers to the development of meaning or association with a given location. It is a
sense of belonging or identity, which is developed through the community that occupies it, its landscape
features, and the emotions it brings.
 MENTAL MAP- refers to the mental representation of things and people of a given location. It is
formed by the memory’s identification of the physical characteristics and features of a particular place.
  PRIMARY LANDSCAPE- the place where we grew up is what human geographers consider as our
primary landscape and is the basis for our experience of new places.
 SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION- refers to the distribution of anything that exists on Earth that can be
mapped out and is observable through spatial processes.
 SPATIAL PROCESS- is the underlying structure responsible for the spatial distribution of things. For
example, the physical distribution of mountain ranges can be attributed to tectonic shifts, while their
cultural distribution can be attributed to technological systems affecting human needs.

APPROACHES IN STUDYING HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEMS

 ENVIRONMENT DETERMINISM- asserts that the natural environment dictates the course of culture.
In this model, human society is restricted to a range of outcomes or even a single possible outcome by a
particular set of environmental parameters.
 POSSIBILISM- claims that although nature may circumscribe the possibilities for humans, historical and
cultural factors explain what possibility is actually chosen.
 CULTURAL ECOLOGY- the study of processes by which a society adapts to its environment.
 HISTORICAL ECOLOGY- this approach utilizes the notion of ecology as an attempt to understand the
reciprocal relationship between people and environment and draws its understanding of these
relationships from their mutual influence over time.
 DPSIR (Drivers, Pressures, State, Impact, Responses) MODEL- recognized the human activities
which place pressure on the environment and how these pressures modify the current state of the
atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere.

IMPORTANT THEORISTS IN HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT SYSTEMS

1. URIE BRONFENBRENNER (1917-2005)- was a developmental psychologist who became popularly known
for his ecological systems theory, which centered on child development. The ecological systems theory proposed
a five-layer approach in understanding human development:
a. Individual- the human being as he/she
b. Microsystem- pertains to all situations and factors that directly affect the individual.
c. Mesosystem- consists of social groups that include work, family, siblings, peers, church, neighborhood, and
school.
d. Exosystem- consists of some setting or events that do not have a direct effect on the person add their impact
reaches the person through others. It consists of the following variables: government reforms, social unrest,
financial and business crises, new laws, tax policies, environmental regulations, parent’s work environment, and
mass media
e. Macrosystem- is said to be the most abstract and complicated of the four systems. One’s macrosystem is
defined by gender, religion, period or era, political ideology, socioeconomic status, and culture.
2. GARRETT HARDIN (1915-2003)- was an American ecologist who gained popularity for his essay “Tragedy
of the Commons” (1968). Its basic premise is that overpopulation is the root of all societal issues. So, controlling
population growth could resolve the multitude of issues plaguing human populations.
3. ERNEST BURGESS (1886-1966)- was an urban sociologist who had a stellar career in the U.S., having been
the 24th president of the American Sociological Association. He is known for the concentric zone model (with
Robert Park), which presented the spatial arrangement of people and institutions within a city.

ACTIVITY

Instruction: Enumerate the basic concepts of Hermeneutical phenomenology and Human-environment

systems. Give keywords (phrases/words) that could best describe each basic concept. (34 pts)