The philosophy of understanding is one of the directions of modern epistemology. In an epistemological context, understanding is discussed in connection with thinking, consciousness, and cognitive activity. At the same time, cognition as the ability of a person to perceive the natural order of the world and to give meaning to things, processes and events means the very ability of understanding that philosophers talk about, attaching to this phenomenon theoretical significance and philosophical meaning. Understanding is correlated not only with cognition, but also with interpretation. The relationship between understanding and interpretation is qualified as the main subject of philosophical hermeneutics, whose methodological basis is aimed at studying this correlation. Historically, the earliest forms of interpretation, which will be discussed in this article, show how the process of comprehension of the content of what is understood and which was endowed with a particularly significant meaning in the cognition of things and events, in the understanding of dream images, authoritative statements, and texts took place. By the example of various cultural and historical traditions of interpretation, a conclusion is drawn about the importance of understanding the spoken word in the developing of the methodology of interpretation.
For citation: Shulga E.N. Philosophy of understanding: early forms of interpretation, Ivanovo State University Bulletin, Series: Humanities, 2025, iss. 3, pp. 165—173.