Briefwechsel, Volume 1

Front Cover
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011 - Biography & Autobiography - 930 pages
English summary: This collection includes letters to and from W. Dilthey between 1852-1882. He corresponded with family members, contemporary philosophers, historians, Germanists, old philologists, national economists and theologians as well as publishers, historians, politicians, writers and artists. The main point of interest were letters offering insight into biographic, work historical and systematic aspects. Many letters were unpublished, the original orthography and punctuation was kept. Included are also letters which have been published in older and out of print copies. German text. German description: Die Briefsammlung enthalt eine Auswahl an Briefen von und an den Philosophen aus dem Zeitraum 1852-1882. Zu den Briefpartnern Diltheys zahlten neben Familienmitgliedern viele zeitgenossische Philosophen, Historiker, Germanisten, Altphilologen, Nationalokonomen und Theologen sowie Publizisten, Verleger, Politiker, Schriftsteller und Kunstler. Aufgenommen sind vor allem biographisch, werkgeschichtlich und systematisch wichtige Briefe. Sie sind zum grossten Teil bislang unveroffentlicht und werden aus den Nachlassen Diltheys und seiner Briefpartner ediert, wobei die originale Orthographie und Zeichensetzung gewahrt bleiben. Aufgenommen sind daruber hinaus auch die Briefe, die bereits in verschiedenen - zumeist alteren und schwer beschaffbaren - Publikationen vorliegen.

About the author (2011)

Born in Biebrich, Germany, the son of a Reformed clergyman, Wilhelm Dilthey studied theology in Wiesbaden and Heidelberg but then moved to Berlin, where he turned to history and philosophy. He held professorships at Basel (1866), Kiel (1868), and Breslau (1871) before becoming Lotze's successor in Berlin (1882), where he taught until 1905. Dilthey wrote many essays on history, the history of philosophy, and the foundation of the human sciences (or Geisteswissen schaften, "sciences of spirit"), his contribution to which is the main source of his lasting influence. He is associated with the idea of "philosophy of life" - that lived experience is both the source and the sole subject matter of philosophy. He argued that the human sciences have an aim and method that differs from the natural sciences because they are founded not on causal explanation but on "understanding," which leads to interpretation of the meaning of lived experience. Dilthey's approach to the human studies is holistic, and he is concerned about the problem of historicism, raised by incommensurability of the life experiences and understanding of different ages. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Lessing ist apl. Prof. an der Dilthey-Forschungsstelle im Institut fÃ"r Philosophie I der Ruhr-Universität Bochum.