The hermeneutic problem posed by digital humanities

Abstract

This article aims to present the hermeneutic problem related to the emergence of the research field widely known as digital humanities. In general, at the epistemological level, this problem involves the consideration of a theory of historical interpretation that articulates research methods and techniques with digital objects in their symbolic character. At the ontological level, it highlights the need to take into account the constitutive aspects that make this theory of interpretation possible. By examining the historical-philosophical foundation of the hermeneutic paradigm, as well as the engagement of human sciences at large — and history in particular — with digital technologies, we have come to the conclusion that a digital historical hermeneutics needs to go beyond epistemological and methodological reflections towards the questioning of the ontological conditions not only of human understanding but also of machine interpretation.