The essays here are not technical and are readily accessible to the beginning student and the general reader. The collection as a whole serves to illustrate the practice of hermeneutics and to introduce Gadamer's thought. Robert Bernasconi provides an introduction clarifying the central aims of the essays and their relations to Gadamer's major work.

Foreword; Editor's introduction; Sources; Part I: The Relevance of the Beautiful: Part II: Essays: 1. The festive character of theater; 2. Composition and interpretation; 3. Image and gesture; 4. The speechless image; 5. Art and imitation; 6. On the contribution of poetry to the search for truth; 7. Poetry and mimesis; 8. The play of art; 9. Philosophy and poetry; 10. Aesthetic and religious experience; Appendix: intuition and vividness; Notes; Bibliography; Index.