General Theory of Interpretation

The General Theory of Interpretation is a theory of knowledge first and of action thereafter for the acquisition of understanding in those cases when the reality around us is not wholly clear, or is obscured, or is foggy, or is of something never seen before, or yet we never faced it before, and come from things that we call historic, artistic, moral, esthetic, ethical, and unknown. It is a theory structured on reliable bases and supported by the greatest individuals we read about in the histories of philosophy, art, morality, laws, and religions. Interpretation is within the sciences of the spirit (our interior mental life). It is not a physical science, but it is based, as a theory, on solid bases of experience nonetheless. What is it a piece of art? What an artist created. How do we understand this piece of art? By trying to penetrate deeply into it, in order to understand it in its totality of meaning. But that is not enough The spirit of the artist is made flesh in that piece of art. Knowing the artist's spirit will make us to interpret the piece of art and its creator and thus understand in full the object (piece of art) and the subject (the artist's spirituality when he made the object). Emilio Betti was one of the greatest interpreter, including our social customs and law. The theory of interpretation is also called hermeneutics and the volumes in this series explain, in technical words, how Betti built this important science and adapted it to link history and jurisprudence, in order that all societies could live with a spirit of tolerance and in peace, together.