Hans-Georg Gadamer is the decisive figure in the development of twentieth century hermeneuticsâalmost certainly eclipsing, in terms of influence and reputation, the other leading figures, including Paul Ricoeur, and also Gianni Vattimo (Vattimo was himself one of Gadamer's students). Risser, James, 1997, Hermeneutics and the Voice of the Other: Re-Reading Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics, Albany, NY: SUNY Press. 2  Rorty, Richard, 1979, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Princeton: Princeton University Press.