A surreal library with books transforming into landscapes, representing Dilthey's hermeneutics.

Unlocking Meaning: How Dilthey's Hermeneutics Can Transform Understanding

Beau Callahan in Mind & Education August 2025 • 4 min read.

"Explore the depths of Dilthey's philosophy and discover how his hermeneutical approach offers new perspectives on understanding human experience and historical context."

In a world saturated with information, the ability to truly understand – not just process – is more critical than ever. Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911), a towering figure in the history of hermeneutics, offers profound insights into the art and science of interpretation. His work extends beyond traditional text analysis, encompassing human actions and historical contexts, providing a richer and more nuanced approach to understanding.

Dilthey's hermeneutics challenges simplistic views of understanding as a mere intellectual exercise. He emphasizes the importance of considering the historical, cultural, and personal factors that shape human experience. His key distinction between explanation (Erklären) and understanding (Verstehen) highlights the unique nature of the human sciences, where empathy and interpretation play a central role.

This article delves into Dilthey's core ideas, exploring how his hermeneutical philosophy can be applied to various fields, from literature and history to psychology and the social sciences. We'll uncover the practical implications of his theories, demonstrating how they can transform our approach to knowledge and understanding in the modern world.

What is Hermeneutics? Unveiling the Layers of Meaning

A surreal library with books transforming into landscapes, representing Dilthey's hermeneutics.

At its heart, hermeneutics is the theory and methodology of interpretation. Originally focused on interpreting religious texts, it has evolved to encompass a broader range of human expression, including literature, art, history, and social phenomena. Dilthey played a crucial role in this expansion, arguing that understanding human actions requires a different approach than explaining natural events.

Dilthey emphasized the concept of 'lived experience' (Erlebnis) as the foundation of understanding. He believed that our understanding of the world is shaped by our subjective experiences, which are always embedded in a specific historical and cultural context. Therefore, to truly understand something, we must strive to grasp the lived experience that gave rise to it.

To unpack his concepts further, here are some of Dilthey's key concepts:

The Hermeneutic Circle: Understanding the whole requires understanding the parts, and vice versa. Our initial understanding of a text or event influences how we interpret its individual components, and these interpretations, in turn, refine our understanding of the whole.
Understanding vs. Explanation: Explanation seeks to identify causal relationships and general laws, while understanding aims to grasp the meaning and significance of human actions within their specific context.
Objective Spirit: The shared cultural and historical context that shapes individual experience and provides a framework for understanding. This includes language, customs, institutions, and artistic traditions.
Re-experiencing (Nacherleben): Dilthey initially proposed 're-experiencing' the author's state of mind, but later shifted to 're-experiencing the meaning' of a text, emphasizing structural analogues of personal responses.

Dilthey argued that traditional hermeneutics had gradually shifted its focus from theological constraints to philological, historical, and philosophical considerations. He critiqued approaches that intellectualized interpretation, reducing it to a mere methodological exercise. Instead, he saw interpretation as a dynamic process of coming to know, revealing the full scope of psychic and historical life.

Embracing the Complexity: Why Dilthey Matters Today

Dilthey's hermeneutics offers a powerful antidote to the superficiality and oversimplification that often characterize modern discourse. By emphasizing the importance of context, lived experience, and empathy, he provides a framework for understanding the complexities of human life and the richness of historical experience. His work encourages us to move beyond simplistic explanations and embrace the challenge of truly understanding the world around us.

About this Article -

This article was crafted using a human-AI hybrid and collaborative approach. AI assisted our team with initial drafting, research insights, identifying key questions, and image generation. Our human editors guided topic selection, defined the angle, structured the content, ensured factual accuracy and relevance, refined the tone, and conducted thorough editing to deliver helpful, high-quality information.See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1002/9781405164542.ch37, Alternate LINK

Title: Dilthey

Journal: A Companion to Continental Philosophy

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Authors: Rudolf A. Makkreel

Published: 2017-08-16

Everything You Need To Know

How does Dilthey's concept of 'lived experience' (Erlebnis) shape the process of understanding, and what role does it play in interpreting texts and human actions?

Dilthey's hermeneutics centers on 'lived experience' (Erlebnis), highlighting that our understanding stems from subjective experiences within historical and cultural contexts. Understanding, in this view, involves grasping the lived experience behind any text, action, or event. This contrasts with merely processing information, urging us to consider the formative influences shaping human expression. Further, the 'Objective Spirit' represents the shared cultural and historical context that shapes individual experience and provides a framework for understanding. This includes language, customs, institutions, and artistic traditions.

What is the difference between 'explanation' (Erklären) and 'understanding' (Verstehen) in Dilthey's hermeneutics, and why is this distinction important for the human sciences?

Dilthey distinguishes between explanation (Erklären) and understanding (Verstehen). Explanation aims to uncover causal relationships and general laws, commonly used in the natural sciences. Understanding, on the other hand, seeks to grasp the meaning and significance of human actions within their specific context, crucial for the human sciences. The 'Hermeneutic Circle' reinforces this by suggesting our initial understanding influences interpretation of components, refining the whole.

Could you elaborate on Dilthey's 'Hermeneutic Circle' and explain how it functions as a dynamic process in interpreting texts, events, or human actions?

The 'Hermeneutic Circle' describes the iterative process where understanding the whole requires understanding the parts, and understanding the parts requires understanding the whole. Our initial grasp of a subject influences how we interpret its details, which in turn refines our overall understanding. The concept indicates that the interpretation of a text, event, or human action is not a linear process, but one of constant revision and deepening comprehension.

What does Dilthey mean by 'Objective Spirit,' and how does recognizing this concept enhance our ability to understand human behavior and cultural expressions?

'Objective Spirit' refers to the shared cultural and historical context that shapes individual experience and provides a framework for understanding. It encompasses elements like language, customs, institutions, and artistic traditions, which are external to the individual but deeply influence their thoughts and actions. Recognizing the 'Objective Spirit' is vital in Dilthey's hermeneutics, as it allows interpreters to situate human expressions within a broader social and historical landscape, offering insights beyond the individual's subjective experience.

How did Dilthey's concept of 'Re-experiencing' (Nacherleben) evolve over time, and what are the implications of this evolution for interpreting historical and literary works?

'Re-experiencing' (Nacherleben), in Dilthey's evolving thought, shifted from attempting to recreate the author's exact state of mind to focusing on re-experiencing the meaning of a text. This involves recognizing structural analogues of personal responses within the text. This shift acknowledges the difficulty of truly knowing another's internal state and emphasizes that the goal is to understand the meaning conveyed through the work and its impact on the reader or interpreter.