Pastoral Relationship with People with Intellectual ... - Theses

163In paying reference to Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer describes whathe refers to as ‘rival projects’ or what can alternatively be thought of ascompeting classifications of knowledge or understanding that challenge priorconceptions and assumptions generating more suitable conceptions on an ongoingbasis. He states,... every revision of the fore-project is capable of projecting beforeitself a new project of meaning, that rival projects can emerge sideby side until it becomes clearer what the unity of meaning is, thatinterpretation begins with fore-conceptions that are replaced bymore suitable ones. This constant process of new projection is themovement of understanding and interpretation. 437Hence, the application of new understandings and new actions assumes atentative character. This implies that the discerning of meaning and itsapplication to context is not set in concrete but requires constant revision andimprovement.In terms of this extended reflection, this means taking into account factorssuch as changes in health, accommodation and staff morale. It also meansmaintaining accounts of the narratives of new people to the institutional settingand their unique perspective.5.4 The Emergence of the Hermeneutical CircleIn light of the tentative character of the extended reflection design,meaning-making and understanding take on an evolutionary and ongoing form.This also implies an ongoing commitment by the pastoral practitioner to seekingever more developed conceptualisations of meaning and understanding. Thisissue comes into sharper relief when considered in the context of a hermeneuticalpastoral methodology, particularly where the cyclical nature of analysis andunderstanding is perceived of as a spiral. Under this design, pastoral applicationsassume a tentative and ever-maturing nature in which various and relevantsources of contextualised information, or “created realities,” are sourced on an437 Gadamer, Han-Georg. Truth and Method. (New York: The Seabury Press, 1975), 236.