Abstract

This article explores whether Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics, in the context of intercultural understanding, risks neglecting or even attempting to overcome the cultural other. In an era of global exchange—marked by both intercultural interactions and the growing prevalence of culturalist ethnocentrism—this would pose a significant challenge to the role of the humanities as envisioned by Gadamer. An approach that disregards or seeks to transcend cultural otherness would conflict with the principle of mutual cultural recognition. After briefly addressing the recurring critique of Gadamer’s hermeneutics as promoting the overcoming of cultural otherness, this criticism is systematically countered and dismissed through four key arguments.