The Zagal-Beuchot Polemic

Abstract

Héctor Zagal undertakes a discussion of Mauricio Beuchot’s analogical hermeneutics. The author focuses on the problem of the infinite interpretation. It is well known that some thinkers claim that interpretation leads to an infinite regress inasmuch as any interpretation is itself subject to interpretation. In his work on analogical hermeneutics, Beuchot tries to stop the regress by distinguishing, as Aristotle does, between actual and potential infinity. He then argues that interpretation may be potentially infinite, but is not actually so. Zagal objects that even so the regress persists: an infinity by succession (although not by simultaneity) obtains anyway. Beuchot replies that even if an interpretation may in principle go on to infinity, it is sufficient, given the finiteness of the human mind, that it actually stops somewhere. In the same vein, he adds that even though an interpretation may in principle go on to infinity, the community of interpreters is what helps us to stop the regress: through their dialogue with each other they share arguments that justify an interpretation of a given text.