Open AccessMan the Interpreter - From Natural Science to Hermeneutics in Swedish Archaeology
Author(s) -
Johan Hegardt
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
current swedish archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.256
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2002-3901
pISSN - 1102-7355
DOI - 10.37718/csa.2000.05
Subject(s) - natural (archaeology) , interpreter , scholarship , hermeneutics , natural science , ontology , meaning (existential) , philosophy of science , archaeology , natural philosophy , history , sociology , epistemology , philosophy , political science , law , computer science , programming language
The epistemological principles of natural science dominate the archaeological discourse. Methods and theories developed exclusively for natural science are used in archaeology without further ado. Archaeological institutions employ experts on scientific methods. University departments, scholarship foundations and other institutions spend large amounts of money on projects and education with an explicit connection to natural science. The significance and outcome of such projects are hardly ever questioned. In this article the background of the present situation is analysed. It is also argued that archaeologists should pay more attention to life. It is in the ontology of life that we as archaeologists seek a significant meaning in history, not in explanations of present conditions constructed with methods developed for natural science. It is stated that archaeologists should tum to the first science —philosophy —if our mission, which is to explore the ontological aspects of life, shall become explicit in the discourse of archaeology.