Resonance and understanding: an approach between critical theory and hermeneutics

In this text I propose to establish a connection between the hermeneutic philosophy of Hans Georg Gadamer and the critical theory of Harmut Rosa. Specifically, I propose to argue that what Rosa enunciates as a “non-alienated” way of life and characterizes with the concept of resonance, is nothing more than the experience of familiarity or involvement with the world theorized by Gadamer under the concept of understanding. To this end, I will describe what social acceleration consists of and how it leads to the late-modern human being's experience of alienation. Second, I will argue that it is only possible to evidence the experience of alienation by taking as counterpart and primary the experience of involvement or familiarity that Rosa thematizes as experiences of resonance, which are deeply akin to the comprehensive conception of human nature described by Gadamer.