Analogical-abductive procedures in hermeneutic hypothesis validation. An exam based on The acquisition and control of fire

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the analogical-abductive procedures in Sigmund Freud’s work The acquisition and conquer of fire (1932). In particular, the procedures compromised in the validation of the Freudian hermeneutic hypothesis on the Greek myth of Prometheus figuring the renunciation of an instinct [trieb] were examined.

Conditions of internal coherence and empirical consistence were examined, analysing their characteristics in hermeneutic research. Conditions of admissibility in light of the validation process were discussed as well. The analysis was approached according to the model proposed by Ynoub for the empirical treatment in research with hermeneutic hypotheses.