Raising Athena: Reclaiming the child self through practical hermeneutics

Practical hermeneutics provides a clear and replicable articulation of the methods that activist scholars use in their work by providing a framework that both arises out of and is oriented towards the resolution of particular problems. This work demonstrates that the work of the activist scholar is not simply an appendage to "serious" scholarship, but is necessary for the vitality of theoretical discourse as a whole. Practical hermeneutics synthesizes elements from Wilhem Dilthey's hermeneutics, Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism, and John Dewey's Pragmatism. It also draws largely from Joan Tronto's work in ethics of care and models of engaged scholarship provided by activist scholars such as: Zora Neal Hurston, Daniel Black, and Pedro Noguera.; Through the reclamation of the child self, which this methodology makes possible, I am able to posit an alternative conception of the self one that acknowledges that human beings are fundamentally connected beings. This conception of the self requires that the child self be seen as a subject within philosophical discourse and not simply a passive object. Practical hermeneutics seeks to challenge and reshape present conceptions of the child self as conceived in traditional western theoretical discourse for the purpose of transforming prevailing attitudes and policies that govern the treatment of children within the legal, political, educational, social, and cultural realms. Though I have chosen to articulate practical hermeneutics through the reclamation of the child; in its more general application, practical hermeneutics can be utilized in any discipline. By choosing to explicate a more general methodology through the analysis of a particular problem I am able to demonstrate how it this methodology works. This is important because the methodology itself is both method and process.; Practical hermeneutics consists of three stages of engagement: (1) Hermeneutical perspective: The method through which the activist scholar clarifies her location with respect to the problem that is the seat of her inquiry. (2) Existential attitude: An attitude that moves the activist scholar beyond the initial engagement with the problem and orients her work towards social transformation. (3) Pragmatic activism: The culmination of practical hermeneutics in transformative action and discourse.