180141 PS Life, Knowledge and Science (2012W)

The last decades of the 19th century were characterised by the dominance of the natural sciences, which enlarged their epistemic claims upon fields like psychology and history. This development caused a crisis of the human sciences. Different philosophical movements reacted with the attempt to deduce the methodical autonomy of the human sciences from the peculiarity of its objects (for example neo-Kantianism, vitalism, phenomenology).
Dilthey’s humanistic hermeneutics is an ambitious attempt to found the human sciences epistemologically, logically and methodically. His philosophical examination of the natural sciences centres one of their most important concepts: life. An aim of the course is to show, how Dilthey develops a general theory of knowledge and a new concept of science. Therefore the course is also an introduction in his theory of knowledge and science. In addition, the students will gain insight into the main features of Dilthey’s method, the humanistic hermeneutics.
Finally, the course wants to make the students familiar with the principles of the critical analysing of texts and sharpen their awareness of the historical contingency of philosophical theories. The students should learn that systematic and historical thinking can complement each other an interaction, for which Dilthey’s philosophy is one of the best examples.