Dilthey the Rise of Her Menu Tics

The Rise of HermeneuticsAuthor(s): Wilhelm Dilthey and Frederic JamesonSource:

New Literary History,

Vol. 3, No. 2, On Interpretation: I (Winter, 1972), pp. 229-244Published by:

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http://www.jstor.org/stable/468313

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TheRiseofHermeneuticsWilhelmDilthey

Notefromthe translator: In the"existential historicism" ofWilhelmDilthey (1833-1911)weseemto touchtheveryfonsetorigoof thatgreatGermanhistoriography,with itsaccompanyingdevelopmentsinphilologyandarthistory,withwhichhiswork wascontemporaneous:1there canindeedbe nohistory worthyof thename that does not breathesomethinglike hisspiritualenthusiasmforthetracesthatlifehasleftbehindit,somethingofhisvisionaryinstinctfor all the forms ofliving activitypreservedand stillinstinctwithin themonuments ofthepast.Dilthey'sownvoluminous and oftenfragmentarywritingsturnalmostexclusivelyaround thesupreme mysteryof thehistoriographicalact:thatVerstehenorunderstandingwhich,far frombeingasubjectiveorpurelyintuitiveleap, impliesawholecomplexprocedureofintellectualreconstruction(Nachbildung,Nachfiihlung,Nacherleben, Nachverstdindnis,tousehischaracteristicterminology)2In hislife-longeffort,notonlytosolve,butalsoandessentiallytodefine,theproblem, Diltheycountedamonghispredecessorsandpre-cursorstheforgottentheoreticiansoftheancienttraditionsofclassicalandBiblicalhermeneutics,as well as thepractitionersofthat modemphilologythatreached itsclimaxinthesystemofFriedrichSchleiermacher(1768-I834)."The RiseofHermeneutics"

(1900),

originating largelyfromDilthey'sresearch into the lifeandworkofSchleiermacher,stillconstitutesone ofthemostsatisfactorybrief accounts ofthehistoryandsignificanceof hermeneutictheory.3Itmayalso be read as anintroduc-tion toDilthey'sownconceptofVerstehen,nowseen astheunificationofthe twomainrivaltendencies-grammaticalandpsychological-thatdominatedthe historicaldevelopmentofthattheory.Dilthey'sthought,forallitssuggestive powerandsubsequentin-fluence,cannotbe said to have achieved ultimatephilosophicalcoherence

IFor anaccountofDilthey'srelationshiptorival theories ofhistoryandculture,seeRudolfA.Makkreel,"WilhelmDiltheyandtheNeo-Kantians:The Distinctionof theGeisteswissenschaftenandtheKulturwissenschaften,"Journal oftheHistoryofPhilosophy,VII,4(October,1969),423-40.2InDasVerstehen,3vols.(Tiibingen,1926-1933),JoachimWachprovidesahistoryof thedevelopmentof thisconceptbeforeDilthey.3Diltheyis leastadequateinhis accountofpatristicand medievalexegesis;thereader isreferredto suchmodernstudies as themonumentalExe'gsemddidvaleof HenrideLubac,4vols.(Paris,1959-I964).

230NEW LITERARYHISTORY

orsystematization;4norisitdifficult toformulateseriousobjectionstoit.Profoundlyanti-Hegelianandanti-dialectical,itmaybe understoodas anattempttoforgesome workablenon-relativistic alternative toMarx'sunnamable historicalmaterialism.Yet indoingso,Dilthey,forallhishostilitytopositivism,finds himselfobligedtocometo terms withhisto~ricalvariety throughthehypothesisofatypologyof theWeltanschauungen-ahypothesiswhichendsupsubsuming historyasadisciplinebeneaththenewlyemergentscienceofpsychology.Wemayalso measure thelimitsofhisunderstandingof thehistoricalunderstandingbypointingoutthat,unlike hiscontemporaryNietzsche,Diltheyfailed tomakeaplaceforfalseconsciousness,andforall thosedeviousmechanismsofcensorshipandmauvaisefoithatinterposethemselves betweenourown conscious-ness andthe realitiesofthepast.Eventhe doctrineof Verstehen itselfisnot withoutits ownshort-comings;and wemaywellfeeltodaythat thusconstrued,thedilemma isinsoluble;thatwherethesubjectisthusinitiallyandirrevocably separatedfromitsobject,or theunderstandingmonad from themonadunderstood,noamountoftheoreticalordescriptiveingenuitycanputthembacktogetheragain.Anysuccessfultheoryofunderstandingmustinotherwordsbeginafterthefact,inthepresenceofanunderstandingoraninterpretationalreadyrealized. YetevenDilthey'sfalsestartremainsindispensibletoanyadequatestatementof theproblem;and therevivalofinterestin our owntime inthephenomenonofhistoricalunderstandingandinterpretationisenoughtodemonstratethatthe issuesthatDiltheybelieved tobe centralhavenot beensupersededbutatbesttemporarilyadjourned.

I

HAVEELSEWHERE*

discussedtherepresentationofindividuationin art andparticularlyinpoetry.Wehave now to deal with theproblemof thescientificknowledgeofindividualsandindeedtheprincipalforms ofsingularexistenceingeneral.Issuchknowledgepossible,and what meansare at ourdisposalto attain it?It isaproblemof thegreatestsignificance.Actioneverywherepre-supposesourunderstandingofotherpeople;muchof ourhappinessashumanbeingsderivesfromourre-experiencing[Nachfiihlen]ofalienstatesofmind;the entire science ofphilologyandofhistoryisbased

4Withoutminimizingitsconceptual difficulties,H.A.Hodges,in ThePhilosophyofWilhelmDilthey (London, 1952),makesabettercaseforaDiltheyansystemthananyindividualwork ofDiltheyhimself.*In"DieKunstalsersteDarstellungdermenschlich-geschichtlichenWeltinihrerIndividuation,"GesammelteSchriften,V(Stuttgart,x957),273-303 [Trans-lator'snote].

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