Epistemological Fusion of Horizons

A concept borrowed from Gadamer's hermeneutics: the idea that understanding occurs when the horizon of the knower (their assumptions, history, questions) fuses with the horizon of the known (the phenomenon's context, meaning, history) or with the horizon of another knower. This fusion isn't about one horizon replacing the other—it's about creating a new, enlarged horizon that includes both. Genuine understanding, deep knowledge across difference, emerges from these fusions. It's epistemology as dialogue, as meeting, as transformation on both sides.

"I thought I understood my parents' generation until I actually listened—really listened—and felt my horizon shift. Epistemological Fusion of Horizons: not me explaining them, not them explaining me, but both of us transformed into a new understanding that neither had alone. That's not just learning—that's knowing across difference."

by Abzugal February 23, 2026