Wilhelm Dilthey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Wilhelm Dilthey
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| Born | 19 November 1833 Wiesbaden-Biebrich, German Confederation
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| Died | 1 October 1911 (aged 77) Seis am Schlern, Austria-Hungary (now Italy)
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| Education | Heidelberg University University of Berlin (PhD, January 1864; Dr. phil. hab., June 1864) |
| Era | 19th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
| School | Continental philosophy Hermeneutics Epistemological hermeneutics Historism Lebensphilosophie |
| Institutions | University of Berlin (1865–66; 1882–1911) University of Basel (1867) University of Kiel (1868–1870) University of Breslau (1870–1882) |
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| Academic advisors | Franz Bopp August Boeckh Jacob Grimm Theodor Mommsen Leopold von Ranke Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg |
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Main interests
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Verstehen, literary theory, literary criticism, intellectual history, human sciences, hermeneutic circle, Geistesgeschichte, facticity |
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Notable ideas
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General hermeneutics, distinction between explanatory and descriptive sciences, distinction between explanatory and descriptive psychology, typology of the three basic Weltanschauungen |
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Influences
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Wilhelm Dilthey (19 November 1833 – 1 October 1911) was an important German thinker. He was a historian, psychologist, and philosopher. He taught philosophy at the University of Berlin.
Dilthey was interested in how we understand the world. He focused on how we study human experiences and history. He believed that understanding people and their cultures was different from studying nature.
Life of Wilhelm Dilthey
Wilhelm Dilthey was born in 1833 in a village called Biebrich in Germany. His father was a pastor. When he was young, Dilthey studied theology at Heidelberg University.
Later, he moved to the University of Berlin. There, he studied with famous teachers like Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg. In 1864, he earned his doctorate degree. He also wrote a special paper to become a university lecturer.
In 1865, he became a lecturer in Berlin. He also worked on editing the letters of another philosopher, Friedrich Schleiermacher. In 1867, he became a professor at the University of Basel. He returned to Berlin in 1882 to hold a very important philosophy position.
In 1874, he married Katherine Puttmann. They had three children together. Dilthey passed away in 1911.
Dilthey's Work and Ideas
Understanding Human Experiences: Hermeneutics
Dilthey was very interested in a field called hermeneutics. This is the study of how we understand texts, art, and human actions. He was inspired by Friedrich Schleiermacher, who also worked on hermeneutics.
Dilthey believed that to understand human history and culture, we need to interpret things. This is different from just explaining them like in science. He thought that understanding comes from looking at how people express themselves. This includes their language, art, and actions.
He also talked about the "hermeneutic circle". This is the idea that to understand a part of something, you need to understand the whole. And to understand the whole, you need to understand its parts. It's like going back and forth to get a full picture.
Dilthey's ideas influenced many later thinkers. These included Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer.
Exploring the Mind: Psychology
Dilthey was also keen on psychology, the study of the mind. He made a key difference between two types of psychology:
- Explanatory psychology: This looks at mental events like they are objects. It tries to find causes and effects, much like natural sciences.
- Descriptive psychology: This tries to understand how different mental processes work together. It looks at how our thoughts and feelings connect in our minds.
He later called descriptive psychology "structural psychology." This showed his focus on how the mind is organized.
Studying Society: Sociology
Dilthey was interested in how societies work. However, he didn't like the term "sociology" at first. This was because early sociology, by people like Auguste Comte, tried to study society just like physics. They looked for strict laws and stages of development.
Dilthey disagreed with this. He believed that human societies are too complex for such simple rules. He thought we need to understand people's actions and cultures, not just explain them. He liked the ideas of Georg Simmel, another sociologist who also focused on understanding.
Dilthey's ideas helped create a different way of studying society. This approach is called "non-positivist Verstehen sociology." It emphasizes understanding the meaning behind human actions.
Natural Sciences vs. Human Sciences
One of Dilthey's main goals was to show that the "human sciences" are just as important as the "natural sciences."
- Natural sciences (like physics or chemistry) try to explain things. They look for causes and effects in nature.
- Human sciences (like history, literature, or law) try to understand human experiences. They look at how different parts of human life connect.
Dilthey believed that both types of sciences come from our daily lives. But natural sciences try to step back and be objective. Human sciences, however, focus on understanding our experiences directly.
He used the term Geisteswissenschaften for human sciences. This means "sciences of the mind" or "spiritual knowledge." He felt this term best showed that the human mind and spirit are at the center of these studies.
Different Ways of Seeing the World: Weltanschauungen
In 1911, Dilthey described three basic ways people see the world. He called these Weltanschauungen, or "World-Views." He thought these were typical ways people understand their place in nature:
- Naturalism: People see themselves as part of nature and controlled by it.
- Idealism of Freedom: People feel separate from nature because they have free will.
- Objective Idealism: People feel connected and in harmony with nature.
These ideas influenced other philosophers like Karl Jaspers.
Dilthey and the Neo-Kantians
Dilthey was influenced by the philosopher Immanuel Kant. However, he was not a "Neo-Kantian." Neo-Kantians focused on Kant's ideas about how we know things. Dilthey, instead, focused more on Kant's ideas about judgment and how we experience the world.
A big discussion between Dilthey and the Neo-Kantians was about psychology. Dilthey believed psychology should be part of the human sciences. The Neo-Kantians thought it should be kept separate.
Dilthey's Editorial Work
Dilthey also worked on editing important philosophical texts. In 1859, he helped finish editing the letters of Friedrich Schleiermacher.
He also started the official collection of Immanuel Kant's writings in 1895. This was a huge project to gather all of Kant's works.
In 1906, he published a book about the early life and ideas of another famous philosopher, G. W. F. Hegel.
See also
In Spanish: Wilhelm Dilthey para niños
- Analytic psychology (Stout)
- Descriptive psychology (Brentano)
- Karl Dilthey, younger brother of Wilhelm Dilthey
- Paul Yorck von Wartenburg
- Positivismusstreit
