Cultural Reader: Gadamer and Heidegger: A Philosophical Dialogue

Hans-Georg Gadamer’s philosophical trajectory cannot be understood without his close, lifelong relationship with Martin Heidegger. Their meeting in the 1920s proved decisive for Gadamer, shaping the direction of his thought while also challenging him to find his own path. The result was a rich interplay of influence, divergence, and enduring dialogue.

Early Encounters and Formation

Gadamer first encountered Heidegger as a student in Freiburg, where he had originally come to study Aristotle. He quickly immersed himself in Heidegger’s lectures and seminars, which offered a radical new way of engaging philosophy—not as abstract system-building but as a living inquiry into existence. Gadamer also attended Husserl’s seminars, yet it was Heidegger’s hermeneutics of facticity and his existential interpretation of classical philosophy that captivated him most

Following Heidegger to Marburg, Gadamer pursued philology but was invited to complete his habilitation under Heidegger’s supervision. Though officially centered on Plato, the work bore Heidegger’s imprint, particularly in its concern with Being and interpretation. This early period established a foundation: Gadamer inherited Heidegger’s emphasis on temporality, historicity, and the primacy of understanding as a mode of being

Convergences and Divergences

While Gadamer acknowledged Heidegger as a decisive influence, he was never a mere disciple. Heidegger’s Being and Time gave Gadamer a powerful model of truth as unconcealment and understanding as fundamentally situated. Yet Gadamer resisted some of Heidegger’s more radical gestures. For instance, he refused to abandon Plato and Aristotle, insisting that their dialogues remained a resource for philosophical life. Similarly, Gadamer valued ordinary language, while Heidegger often turned to neologisms to escape metaphysical traditions

In later years, Gadamer expressed disappointment that Heidegger ignored Truth and Method. Heidegger regarded the book as still too tied to concepts of consciousness, while Gadamer believed he had used such terms in a way that affirmed openness to Being rather than subjectivism. Their differences extended to their assessment of modernity: where Heidegger saw technological nihilism and the “end” of philosophy, Gadamer emphasized the continuing vitality of dialogue, solidarity, and historical participation

Hermeneutics Between Phenomenology and Dialectic

Gadamer located his own work “between phenomenology and dialectic.” This meant, on the one hand, extending Heidegger’s insights about understanding and finitude, and on the other, keeping alive the dialogical and ethical dimensions of Plato. In contrast to Heidegger’s darker vision, Gadamer stressed that philosophy remains a natural human disposition, inseparable from language and shared life. For him, hermeneutics was not about surpassing metaphysics but about engaging tradition, conversation, and the never-finished pursuit of truth.

Conclusion

The relationship between Gadamer and Heidegger was one of profound influence and critical independence. Heidegger’s existential hermeneutics gave Gadamer the tools to move beyond objectivism and subjectivism, while Gadamer’s fidelity to dialogue, language, and classical thought ensured that hermeneutics would not collapse into despair or obscurity. Their intellectual exchange embodies the very process of philosophical hermeneutics: a conversation across horizons, where truth emerges not in domination but in dialogue.