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Wilhelm Dilthey

Wilhelm DiltheyWilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911).

German philosopher who made important contributions to a methodology of the humanities and other human sciences. He objected to the pervasive influence of the natural sciences and developed a philosophy of life emphasising historical contingency and changeability. His ‘Philosophy of Life’ pivoted on the notion of a living spirit which develops in historical forms, clearly drawing on Friedrich Hegel’s Geist, and many regard him as a progenitor of Hegelianism. Dilthey was little known during his own lifetime, being rediscovered in post-World War One Germany.

Dilthey was the son of a Reformed Church theologian, but after studying theology at Heidelberg and Berlin, he transferred to philosophy and after completing his Doctorate at Berlin and a short time as a school teacher, dedicated himself full-time to writing, and after appointments as Basel and Braslau, took up the position as Chair of Philosophy at the University of Berlin, where he spent the remainder of his life, engaged in philosophical study and writing.

Dilthey’s aim was to find the philosophical foundations for what he called the “sciences of man, of society, and the state”, which he named Geisteswissenschaften, usually translated as “human sciences” – a term that eventually gained general recognition to collectively denote the fields of history, philosophy, religion, psychology, art, literature, law, politics and economics.

In 1883, the first volume of his Introduction to Human Sciences appeared but the second volume never appeared, only a series of essays including in 1894, Ideas Concerning a Descriptive and Analytical Psychology, a cognitive, structural psychology which, in its conception, is far ahead of its time.

Against the dominant conception of his time, Dilthey opposed the idea that the human sciences should emulate the methodology of the natural sciences, and tried to establish the humanities as sciences in their own right. In his study of interpersonal experience, its realisation in creative expression, the reflective understanding of this experience, and the “logical development” that may be attributed to the development of knowledge and culture in social and historical processes, Dilthey developed important insights. Emphasising that the essence of human beings cannot be grasped by introspection but only from a knowledge of history, the parallel with Hegel’s approach is clearly visible. Dilthey however, held that knowledge could never be final, because history is never final.

Dilthey held that the historical relativity of all ideas and institutions is the most characteristic and challenging fact in the intellectual life of the modern world. He was hostile to the construction of closed, rational systems and preferred to leave questions unsettled. This preference for leaving quesitons open, was perhaps the main contributing factor to his failure to be recognised in his own time. Only after the War, did the significance of the methodology of his historical philosophy of life come to be appreciated.

Table of Contents

  • 1 Major Works of Wilhelm Dilthey
    • 1.1 Related:
  • 2 Videos
  • 3 Related Products
    • 3.1 Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume VI: Ethical and World-View Philosophy
    • 3.2 Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works Volume I: Introduction to the Human Sciences
    • 3.3 The Formation of the Historical World in the Human Sciences (Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works)
    • 3.4 Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume II: Understanding the Human World
    • 3.5 Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume IV: Hermeneutics and the Study of History
    • 3.6 Introduction to the Human Sciences: An Attempt to Lay a Foundation for the Study of Society and History
    • 3.7 The Philosophy of Wilhelm Dilthey
    • 3.8 Wilhelm Dilthey Pattern and Meaning in History Thoughts on History and Society
    • 3.9 Wilhelm Dilthey: A Hermeneutic Approach to the Study of History and Culture (Martinus Nijhoff Philosophy Library Book 2)
    • 3.10 Introducción a las ciencias del espíritu. Obras I (Spanish Edition)

Major Works of Wilhelm Dilthey

– Gesammelte Schriften (20 vol.) (1914-1990)
– The Essence of Philosophy (1954)
– Das Erlebnis und die Dichtung (1970)
– Descriptive Psychology and Historical Understanding (1977)

Related:

  • Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
  • hermeneutics
  • positivism
  • Robin George Collingwood
  • historicism

  • Videos

  • Related Products

     
    Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume VI: Ethical and World-View Philosophy
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    Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume VI: Ethical and World-View Philosophy

    • Hardcover Book
    • Dilthey, Wilhelm (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 360 Pages - 11/12/2019 (Publication Date) - Princeton University Press (Publisher)
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    Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works Volume I: Introduction to the Human Sciences

    Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works Volume I: Introduction to the Human Sciences

    • Used Book in Good Condition
    • Dilthey, Wilhelm (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 544 Pages - 08/12/1991 (Publication Date) - Princeton University Press (Publisher)
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    The Formation of the Historical World in the Human Sciences (Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works)

    The Formation of the Historical World in the Human Sciences (Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works)

    • Used Book in Good Condition
    • Dilthey, Wilhelm (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 416 Pages - 10/10/2010 (Publication Date) - Princeton University Press (Publisher)
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    Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume II: Understanding the Human World

    Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume II: Understanding the Human World

    • Used Book in Good Condition
    • Hardcover Book
    • Dilthey, Wilhelm (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 352 Pages - 08/01/2010 (Publication Date) - Princeton University Press (Publisher)
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    Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume IV: Hermeneutics and the Study of History

    Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume IV: Hermeneutics and the Study of History

    • Used Book in Good Condition
    • Dilthey, Wilhelm (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 432 Pages - 10/10/2010 (Publication Date) - Princeton University Press (Publisher)
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    Introduction to the Human Sciences: An Attempt to Lay a Foundation for the Study of Society and History

    Introduction to the Human Sciences: An Attempt to Lay a Foundation for the Study of Society and History

    • Used Book in Good Condition
    • Dilthey, Wilhelm (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 386 Pages - 12/01/1988 (Publication Date) - Wayne State University Press (Publisher)
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    The Philosophy of Wilhelm Dilthey

    The Philosophy of Wilhelm Dilthey

    • Hardcover Book
    • HODGES,H.A. (Author)
    • 368 Pages - 03/02/2021 (Publication Date) - Routledge and Kegan Paul (Publisher)
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    Wilhelm Dilthey Pattern and Meaning in History Thoughts on History and Society

    Wilhelm Dilthey Pattern and Meaning in History Thoughts on History and Society

    • Edited by H.P. Rickman (Author)
    • 03/02/1962 (Publication Date) - George Allen (Publisher)
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    Wilhelm Dilthey: A Hermeneutic Approach to the Study of History and Culture (Martinus Nijhoff Philosophy Library Book 2)

    Wilhelm Dilthey: A Hermeneutic Approach to the Study of History and Culture (Martinus Nijhoff Philosophy Library Book 2)

    • Amazon Kindle Edition
    • Bulhof, I.N. (Author)
    • English (Publication Language)
    • 233 Pages - 12/06/2012 (Publication Date) - Springer (Publisher)
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    Introducción a las ciencias del espíritu. Obras I (Spanish Edition)

    Introducción a las ciencias del espíritu. Obras I (Spanish Edition)

    • Amazon Kindle Edition
    • Dilthey, Wilhelm (Author)
    • Spanish (Publication Language)
    • 612 Pages - Fondo de Cultura Económica (Publisher)
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