From philosophical hermeneutics to the hermeneutic-concretizing method: the role of the interpreter in constitutional realization

Abstract

This article analyzes KONRAD HESSE’s hermeneutic-concretizing method based on its foundations in HANS-GEORG GADAMER’s philosophical hermeneutics. It examines how this methodological proposal was consolidated as a response to the limitations of legal formalism and classical positivism, seeking to reconcile the primacy of the constitutional text with the historicity of the interpreter. The research is based on the understanding of the hermeneutic phenomenon formulated by HANS-GEORG GADAMER, in order to demonstrate that legal interpretation cannot be reduced to a purely logical or neutral process. From this theoretical foundation, the hermeneutic-concretizing method is presented as an instrument aimed at realizing the normative force of the Constitution within social reality, structured upon the subjective and objective presuppositions and the hermeneutic circle that interconnects them. The study concludes that KONRAD HESSE’s proposal embodies the spirit of post-positivism by preserving the rationality of legal interpretation while acknowledging its historical, social, and axiological dimensions, reaffirming the interpreter’s role as a mediator between the constitutional norm and the reality it seeks to shape.