This chapter explores the principal perspectives within the hermeneutic movement in social science research with reference to the works of Dilthey, Gadamer, Habermas and Ricoeur. As a science of interpretation and philosophy of understanding, hermeneutics is implicated whenever human communication takes place. Originally developed for the purpose of interpreting ancient and classical texts, hermeneutic thinking has in more recent times become adapted to the needs of the human and social sciences. The implications of the development of hermeneutics for the human sciences have been considered by philosophers from Vico to Ricoeur and beyond. To some extent, clinical practice has to take account of models of human and social science as well as of the natural sciences that properly inform biomedical explanation. Dilthey's hermeneutic methodology intends that the self of the interpreter should become as neutral and transparent as possible, in the same way as the self of the observer in natural science. Gadamer considers that Kant's account of aesthetic judgment excessively emphasizes the primacy of the reflective self. According to Gadamer, Kant's conclusions imply the presence of a subjectivity, or judging self, that stands over against the art object.