▁as ▁a ▁way ▁to ▁re construct ▁the ▁author ' s ▁original ▁work . ▁The ▁method ▁produced ▁so - called ▁" crit ical ▁ed itions ", ▁which ▁provided ▁a ▁re construct ed ▁text ▁accompanied ▁by ▁a ▁" crit ical ▁appar atus ", ▁i . e ., ▁foot notes ▁that ▁listed ▁the ▁various ▁manuscript ▁variants ▁available , ▁en abling ▁sch ol ars ▁to ▁gain ▁insight ▁into ▁the ▁entire ▁manuscript ▁tradition ▁and ▁argue ▁about ▁the ▁variants . ▁ ▁A ▁related ▁study ▁method ▁known ▁as ▁higher ▁criticism ▁studies ▁the ▁author ship , ▁date , ▁and ▁proven ance ▁of ▁text ▁to ▁place ▁such ▁text ▁in ▁historical ▁context . ▁As ▁these ▁phil ological ▁issues ▁are ▁often ▁in separ able ▁from ▁issues ▁of ▁interpretation , ▁there ▁is ▁no ▁clear - cut ▁boundary ▁between ▁phil ology ▁and ▁herm ene ut ics . ▁When ▁text ▁has ▁a ▁significant ▁political ▁or ▁religious ▁influence ▁( such ▁as ▁the ▁reconst ruction ▁of ▁Bib lic al ▁texts ), ▁sch ol ars ▁have ▁difficulty ▁reaching ▁objective ▁conclus ions . ▁ ▁Some ▁sch ol ars ▁avoid ▁all ▁critical ▁methods ▁of ▁text ual ▁phil ology , ▁especially ▁in ▁historical ▁lingu istics , ▁where ▁it ▁is ▁important ▁to ▁study ▁the ▁actual ▁recorded ▁materials . ▁The ▁movement ▁known ▁as ▁New ▁Phil ology ▁has ▁rejected ▁text ual ▁criticism ▁because ▁it ▁inject s ▁editor ial ▁interpret ations ▁into ▁the ▁text ▁and ▁dest ro ys ▁the ▁integrity ▁of ▁the ▁individual ▁manuscript , ▁hence ▁dam aging ▁the ▁reli ability ▁of ▁the ▁data . ▁Supp or ters ▁of ▁New ▁Phil ology ▁ins ist ▁on ▁a ▁strict