Firefighting, Temperance, and Hermeneutical Virtue

Traditional understandings of temperance do not adequately address the ethical alienation and displacement firefighters experience because these definitions do not account for the constant and often extreme transitions firefighters make in their work. I argue that firefighters would be better serve...

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Main Author: Ty D. Camp
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Calgary 2025-07-01
Series:Journal of Applied Hermeneutics
Online Access:https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jah/article/view/81755
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author Ty D. Camp
author_facet Ty D. Camp
author_sort Ty D. Camp
collection DOAJ
description Traditional understandings of temperance do not adequately address the ethical alienation and displacement firefighters experience because these definitions do not account for the constant and often extreme transitions firefighters make in their work. I argue that firefighters would be better served by a novel, hermeneutically-conceived approach to temperance. Moreover, temperance is not only or even primarily about self-control. Rather, temperance is best understood on the basis of Gadamer’s conception of the “fusion of horizons” as a kind of ethical agility to move between difficult and disparate situations. This, I suggest, is an essential aspect of philosophical hermeneutics because the fusion of horizons is the means by which we experience the transitions, oscillations, and amalgamations of the world. Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics provides a vital way, therefore, in which firefighters can cultivate the virtue of temperance as they transition and move between difficult and disparate circumstances.
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spelling doaj-art-39ac593eba4d433fbe1ab94ba54fb32b2025-08-20T03:14:58ZengUniversity of CalgaryJournal of Applied Hermeneutics1927-44162025-07-012025202510.55016/ojs/jah.v2025Y2025.81755Firefighting, Temperance, and Hermeneutical VirtueTy D. Camp0Albuquerque Fire Rescue Traditional understandings of temperance do not adequately address the ethical alienation and displacement firefighters experience because these definitions do not account for the constant and often extreme transitions firefighters make in their work. I argue that firefighters would be better served by a novel, hermeneutically-conceived approach to temperance. Moreover, temperance is not only or even primarily about self-control. Rather, temperance is best understood on the basis of Gadamer’s conception of the “fusion of horizons” as a kind of ethical agility to move between difficult and disparate situations. This, I suggest, is an essential aspect of philosophical hermeneutics because the fusion of horizons is the means by which we experience the transitions, oscillations, and amalgamations of the world. Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics provides a vital way, therefore, in which firefighters can cultivate the virtue of temperance as they transition and move between difficult and disparate circumstances. https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jah/article/view/81755
spellingShingle Ty D. Camp
Firefighting, Temperance, and Hermeneutical Virtue
Journal of Applied Hermeneutics
title Firefighting, Temperance, and Hermeneutical Virtue
title_full Firefighting, Temperance, and Hermeneutical Virtue
title_fullStr Firefighting, Temperance, and Hermeneutical Virtue
title_full_unstemmed Firefighting, Temperance, and Hermeneutical Virtue
title_short Firefighting, Temperance, and Hermeneutical Virtue
title_sort firefighting temperance and hermeneutical virtue
url https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jah/article/view/81755
work_keys_str_mv AT tydcamp firefightingtemperanceandhermeneuticalvirtue