The hermeneutic experience begins when the interpreter is questioned by something from tradition and seeks to find an answer by examining a text. The interpreter is embedded within tradition since he has inherited a set of prejudices that constitute his horizon of understanding. Correct understanding occurs when he is able to legitimize his prejudices by grounding them in the things themselves. The hermeneutic circle of understanding implies that the interpreter cannot escape the effect of history to an objective standpoint. Hence, he must bring a text to speak by expanding his horizon of meaning, that is, by listening to what the text has to say. The fore-conception of completeness permits the interpreter to call his own prejudices into question by contrasting them with those of the text. All understanding includes the application of the text to the interpreter's horizon by projecting the text's horizon into his own, now expanded, horizon. Understanding is the event of the fusion of these two horizons where prejudices are legitimized and the answer to the original question is discovered. However, Gadamer has not indicated how the resolution of conflicting prejudices happens during the interpretive process. In order to accomplish this Gadamer must first examine language.

Language and hermeneutic experience

Language is the medium in which conversations take place. As we have discussed, conversations are a model for understanding texts since the interpreter must bring the text to speak.