---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hermeneutics is a way of looking at Being…"
description: "\"Hermeneutics is a way of looking at Being as an inheritance that is never considered as ultimate data. Capitalism has always grown by considering, or f..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/gianni-vattimo-63640_bandits_hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-bein_3200456.jpg"
---

#  Hermeneutics is a way of looking at Being as an…

![“Hermeneutics is a way of looking at Being as an inheritance that is never considered as ultimate data. Capitalism has always grown by considering, or forcing another to consider, as a 'natural' possession what is inherited. The great dominating families are really the inheritors of the strongest…” quote by Gianni Vattimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/gianni-vattimo-63640_bandits_hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-bein_3200456.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/gianni-vattimo-63640_bandits_hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-bein_3200456.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/gianni-vattimo-63640_bandits_hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-bein_3200456.jpg)

> “Hermeneutics is a way of looking at Being as an inheritance that is never considered as ultimate data. Capitalism has always grown by considering, or forcing another to consider, as a 'natural' possession what is inherited. The great dominating families are really the inheritors of the strongest pirates, thieves, and bandits, and they consider themselves entitled to command through a divine or natural law, when they really are only the result of a forgotten 'violence'.”

[Gianni Vattimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-vattimo/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The passage critiques how capitalism treats inherited power as natural, masking violence and domination.

**In simple terms:** Capitalism hides inherited power as natural, ignoring its violent roots.

Key Takeaway

Question inherited authority and its origins.

Themes

power capitalism inheritance violence

Mood

critical analytical

Type

philosophical political

When to use this quote

- political activism
- education
- policy analysis
- social movements

Key Concepts

marxism critical theory

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you recognize hidden power structures?
- What alternatives exist to inherited dominance?

A Different Perspective

It may overgeneralize all families as violent inheritors.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Hermeneutics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hermeneutics/) [Inheritance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inheritance/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Natural law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-law/) [Pirate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pirate/) [Possession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possession/) [Thieves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thieves/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/)

## Related quotes

> [“Pastors and Bible teachers go about their work in communal settings, where they listen to as well as deliver sermons, hear as well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-j-leithart/pastors-and-bible-teachers-go-about-their-work-in-communal-settings/)

[Peter J. Leithart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-j-leithart/)

> [I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is counterreformist and has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-am-firmly-of-the-opinion-that-the-macintosh-is-catholic-and-that/)

[Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/)

> [The hermeneutic consciousness, which must be awakened and kept awake, recognized that in the age of science philosophy's claim of superiority has something chimerical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-georg-gadamer/the-hermeneutic-consciousness-which-must-be-awakened-and-kept-awake/)

[Hans-Georg Gadamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-georg-gadamer/)

> [“Too often scholars have thought and even suggested that what happened during and after Constantine was that the church sought to replace the pagan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/too-often-scholars-have-thought-and-even-suggested-that-what-happened/)

[Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/)

> [A physicist friend of mine once said that in facing death, he drew some consolation from the reflection that he would never again have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weinberg/a-physicist-friend-of-mine-once-said-that-in-facing-death-he-drew/)

[Steven Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weinberg/)

> [“There is a moment in the tractate Menahot when the Rabbis imagine what takes place when Moses ascends Mount Sinai to receive the Torah.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-rosen/there-is-a-moment-in-the-tractate-menahot-when-the-rabbis-imagine/)

[Jonathan Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-rosen/)

> [“Historical exegesis is only the preliminary part of interpretation; application is its essence. Exegesis without application should not be called interpretation at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer-2/historical-exegesis-is-only-the-preliminary-part-of-interpretation/)

[J.I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer-2/)

> [Talk can neither be verified nor falsified in any rigorous sense. This is an open secret which hermeneutics and aesthetics, from Aristotle to Croce,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/talk-can-neither-be-verified-nor-falsified-in-any-rigorous-sense-this/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [To a degree which is difficult to determine, the esoteric impulse in twentieth-century music, literature and the arts reflects calculation. It looks to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-a-degree-which-is-difficult-to-determine-the-esoteric-impulse-in/)

[George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/)

> [“If we fail to understand the biblical story of Jesus, we will compromise our prophetic interpretations of the end-times. And that's exactly what we've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-of-kittim/if-we-fail-to-understand-the-biblical-story-of-jesus-we-will/)

[Eli Of Kittim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-of-kittim/)

> [“One could say that my view legitimately fuses the end-time messianic expectations of all three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-of-kittim/one-could-say-that-my-view-legitimately-fuses-the-end-time-messianic/)

[Eli Of Kittim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-of-kittim/)

> [By now they had mastered my own language, but they still made simple mistakes, like using 'hermeneutics,' when they meant 'heuristic'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/by-now-they-had-mastered-my-own-language-but-they-still-made-simple/)

[Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/)

> [Although there has always been a hermeneutic problem in Christianity, the hermeneutic question today seems to us a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/although-there-has-always-been-a-hermeneutic-problem-in-christianity/)

[Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/)

> [“In my view, the gospels are true, not historically, but theologically, or, as I would argue, prophetically! What we have is, the Messiah’s history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-of-kittim/in-my-view-the-gospels-are-true-not-historically-but-theologically-or/)

[Eli Of Kittim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-of-kittim/)

> [“What is the difference between my view and the classical Christian perspective? I am convinced that there are not multiple comings and multiple returns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-of-kittim/what-is-the-difference-between-my-view-and-the-classical-christian/)

[Eli Of Kittim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-of-kittim/)

## More by Gianni Vattimo

> [Amongst the many definitions, there is one that may be generally agreed upon: modernity is the epoch in which simply being modern became a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/amongst-the-many-definitions-there-is-one-that-may-be-generally/)

[Gianni Vattimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-vattimo/)

> [I am a Christian, therefore I am a communist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/i-am-a-christian-therefore-i-am-a-communist/)

[Gianni Vattimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-vattimo/)

> [Tradition is the transmitting of linguistic messages that constitute the horizon within which Dasein is thrown as a historically determined project: and tradition derives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/tradition-is-the-transmitting-of-linguistic-messages-that-constitute/)

[Gianni Vattimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-vattimo/)

> [It is only thanks to God that I'm an atheist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/it-is-only-thanks-to-god-that-i-m-an-atheist/)

[Gianni Vattimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-vattimo/)

[Explore all 5 Gianni Vattimo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-vattimo/)

## More Bandits quotes

> [The most effective method of propaganda directed at the enemy forces is to release captured soldiers and give the wounded medical treatment... Whenever soldiers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/the-most-effective-method-of-propaganda-directed-at-the-enemy-forces/)

[Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/)

> [Time is a vindictive bandit to steal the beauty of our former selves. We are left with sagging, rippled flesh and burning gums with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael/time-is-a-vindictive-bandit-to-steal-the-beauty-of-our-former-selves/)

[Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael/)

> [I foresee that man will resign himself each day to new abominations, and soon that only bandits and soldiers will be left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/i-foresee-that-man-will-resign-himself-each-day-to-new-abominations/)

[Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/)

> [The current health care takeover proposals feature a crucial payoff to Big Labor - a golden exemption from any tax on union members' generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-malkin/the-current-health-care-takeover-proposals-feature-a-crucial-payoff/)

[Michelle Malkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-malkin/)

> [“We heard bandits return several nights after that, but they never again entered the house. It wasn't until after the war that I learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-deibler-rose/we-heard-bandits-return-several-nights-after-that-but-they-never/)

Darlene Deibler Rose

> [Taxes are a barbaric remnant of ancient times in which early farmers, tied to the land, no longer able to roam freely, unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/taxes-are-a-barbaric-remnant-of-ancient-times-in-which-early-farmers/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [“In medieval times, contrary to popular belief, most knights were bandits, mercenaries, lawless brigands, skinners, highwaymen, and thieves. The supposed chivalry of Charlemagne and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-wodicka/in-medieval-times-contrary-to-popular-belief-most-knights-were/)

[Tod Wodicka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-wodicka/)

> [In childhood, death stirred me not; in middle age, it pursued me like a prowling bandit on the road; now, grown an old man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/in-childhood-death-stirred-me-not-in-middle-age-it-pursued-me-like-a/)

[Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/)

> [The more prohibitions there are, the poorer the people will be. The more laws are promulgated, the more thieves and bandits there will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-more-prohibitions-there-are-the-poorer-the-people-will-be-the/)

[Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/)

> [I would like to stress here that a lasting peace in the Chechen republic and so-called peace talks with the bandits are not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-yeltsin/i-would-like-to-stress-here-that-a-lasting-peace-in-the-chechen/)

[Boris Yeltsin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-yeltsin/)

> [“No wonder there are bandits in the Campo when there are none but thieves, swindlers, and sanguinary macaques to rule us...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/no-wonder-there-are-bandits-in-the-campo-when-there-are-none-but/)

[Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/)

> [Take away the Holocaust and what do you have left? Without their precious Holocaust, what are the Jews? Just a grubby little bunch of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-covington/take-away-the-holocaust-and-what-do-you-have-left-without-their/)

Harold Covington

> [“Numbers are outlaws--bandits. They make rules in your mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-emerson/numbers-are-outlaws-bandits-they-make-rules-in-your-mind/)

[Kevin Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-emerson/)

> [Guy Rivers, a conventional piece as regards the love affair which makes a part of the plot, is a tale of deadly strife between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-clinton-van-doren/guy-rivers-a-conventional-piece-as-regards-the-love-affair-which/)

[Carl Clinton Van Doren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-clinton-van-doren/)

> [Two weeks after having Bandit I was in a recording studio. I hadnt yet really fully understood what being a dad was and, man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-way/two-weeks-after-having-bandit-i-was-in-a-recording-studio-i-hadnt-yet/)

[Gerard Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-way/)

Browse all 91 Bandits quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Hermeneutics is a way of looking at Being as an inheritance that is never considered as ultimate data. Capitalism has always grown by considering, or forcing another to consider, as a 'natural' possession what is inherited. The great dominating families are really the inheritors of the strongest pirates, thieves, and bandits, and they consider themselves entitled to command through a divine or natural law, when they really are only the result of a forgotten 'violence'.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Gianni Vattimo"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-being-as-an-inheritance-that-is/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Bandits"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-being-as-an-inheritance-that-is/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/gianni-vattimo-63640_bandits_hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-bein_3200456.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/gianni-vattimo-63640_bandits_hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-bein_3200456.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/gianni-vattimo-63640_bandits_hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-bein_3200456.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Hermeneutics is a way of looking at Being as an inheritance that is never considered as ultimate data…” — Gianni Vattimo",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Gianni Vattimo",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gianni-vattimo/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Hermeneutics is a way of looking...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-being-as-an-inheritance-that-is/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gianni-vattimo/hermeneutics-is-a-way-of-looking-at-being-as-an-inheritance-that-is/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
