The poiesis of the question in philosophical hermeneutics: Questioning assessment practices for alcohol use disorders

Philosophical hermeneutics is a way of thinking and a research method that is an in depth analysis of experience. It illuminates often-overlooked practices, generates understandings, and informs practice by raising new questions that analyse, modify, and extend extant knowledge. In this analysis, the experience of questioning is explored as it relates to philosophical hermeneutics and as it is uncovered in a study using philosophical hermeneutic research methods. The current study revealed questioning practices that are useful in the assessment and diagnosis of alcohol use problems. This paper explores the hermeneutic concept of "the question" by explicating the methodological steps of a philosophical hermeneutic study and, through the study example, shows how the hermeneutic questioning process informs and also results from a poiesis, or putting together, of the known and the unknown through hermeneutic inquiry.