Reinterpreting Wölfflin: Neo-Kantianism and Hermeneutics

Author(s): Joan Hart

Source: Art Journal , Winter, 1982, Vol. 42, No. 4, The Crisis in the Discipline (Winter,
1982), pp. 292-300
Published by: CAA

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/776689

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Reinterpreting Wilfflin:
Neo-Kantianism and Hermeneutics

By Joan Hart

H einrich
as the Wolfflin, widely
most important recognized
theorist of art
history, was popularized early in this cen-
tury by art historians of all nationalities.
Many found his descriptive method of ana- ?rj

lyzing the formal characteristics of works

of art useful. However, the theory behind ?g

the method often was misconstrued. Many

misinterpretations occurred because his the-
ory was not viewed in the light of his own
milieu-late-nineteenth-century Switzer-
land and Germany-but from a later, post-
World War I perspective. He was invoked,
both as a prophet of positivism, by Herbert
Read, and as a proponent of Hegelianism,
by E.H. Gombrich, among others.1 To
understand the real significance of W6lf-
flin's theory and of his contribution to the AN

methodology of art history, it is important

" 4i

first to portray the individuals and ideas

that led him to a neo-Kantian philosophical
position. Then, by examining his theory in
relation to modem hermeneutics, we can
elucidate the paradoxes and strengths of
his thought.
Before 1888, when Wolfflin published
his first major work Renaissance and Ba-
roque, at the age of twenty-four, most art
history, especially of the Renaissance and
later periods, was written in narrative or
anecdotal fashion, listing artists and de-
scribing their works, sometimes guided by ME

general, undefined notions of style and

period. Wolfflin presented a new model,
for which he has come to be viewed as the
founder of modem art history. This new
model consisted of two easily replicated
methods: the formal analysis of individual
works of art and the comparison of two
styles to determine their general character-
istics. Wolfflin continued to use these
methods in all his books. In Renaissance
and Baroque he also proposed an explana-
Fig. 1 Heinrich Wi1fflin, at age 22, in Rome with a fellowship at the German
tion for the change in style from Renais-
sance to Baroque architecture: a changeArchaeological
in Institute, 1886.

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the psychology, or "mood," of a people. studies to philosophy and eventually cul-Dilthey at the University of Berlin.14
tural history, while his father. counseledThe application of psychological con-
After reading the sculptor Adolf von Hilde-
brand's Das Problem der Form in der practical achievement in academia, which cepts to philosophy began among neo-
bildenden Kunst (1893), W6lfflin, in Clas-
meant narrow specialization. The son won Kantian philosophers. The trend among
sic Art (1899) and the Principles ofArtwithHis-regard to subject matter, but it was
German academic philosophers to return
tory (1915), ascribed this change to a Eduard
fun- Wolfflin who first proposed the to Kant for the basis of a critical philosophy
comparative method that his son was to
damental shift in perception and cognition. began in the 1850s, reached its full force in
Wolfflin was born in Switzerland in 1864 the 1890s, and disappeared after 1914.
make so familiar to art historians.8 Specu-
and died there in 1945. His father, Eduard
lation that the comparative method origi-Hegel was viewed as ultra-conservative, the
Wolfflin, was a well-known professor nated
of in Hegel's dialectic has no basisvoice
in of reaction and the status quo. Kant,
classical philology at the University fact:ofneither Wolfflin nor his teachers had
on the other hand, had offered his philoso-
Munich. Wolfflin was precocious: first in
a particular interest in Hegel.9 phy as a starting point, which led later phi-
his class in the Gymnasium, with mastery During his first two years in college,
losophers to believe that "to understand
of six languages, he was deeply interested
from 1882 to 1884, Wolfflin was primarilyKant is to go beyond him." Some believed
influenced by positivists-Buckle, B6ckh,
in history, literature, philosophy, and art.2 that the introduction of psychological con-
and his father-in his search for a methodcepts represented an extension of Kant's
He began his university education at Basel
in 1882. He chose Basel for several rea- for the study of history. He asked himself
categories. Hermann Lotze, Eduard Zeller,
sons, but probably the primary one was then:
to "Can history, which was until nowand Friedrich Theodor Vischer were the
study cultural history with the famousonly an experientia, be raised to a science early proponents of this idea; they identified
Jacob Burckhardt. Wolfflin's ultimate goal Kant's a priori forms with the operations
in which, following the model of the natural
throughout his studies at several universi-
sciences, one extracts from the profusionof brain physiologyis and called this new
ties was to become a historian of culture. formulation "psychologism."
of facts the great laws of spiritual develop-
From the outset, he believed that philoso-ment in the human race?" 10 But enthusiasmWiolfflin's most important mentor in phi-
phy would provide a sound basis for cul- for positivism had never been strong in losophy was decidedly Wilhelm Dilthey,
tural history. In 1884, he wrote to his Germany, and Wolfflin, in the course who of was influenced by neo-Kantianism.
his studies at Basel, Munich, and Berlin,
parents: "Philosphy is the highest constant Wolfflin, who was seeking a method for
for me. It unites an entire age. I would came into contact with teachers and authorsstudying cultural history, finally met his
who remained unconvinced that the meth-master in 1885 at the University of Berlin
choose it as the foundation for every higher
cultural history; philosophy and cultural ods of the natural sciences were appropri- and stayed there for two semesters. It is ap-
history complement each other reciprocal- ate for any of the "cultural sciences," parent
or from reading Wilfflin' s journals and
ly. The object of both is man, the wholeGeisteswissenschaften. By the 1880s, the letters to his family that Dilthey had the
thinking, feeling mankind; the former ana-reaction against positivism was in full greatest impact on his thinking.16 Dilthey
lyzes it, the other gives it history."3 swing, particularly among philosophers.had 1 just published his first major philo-
sophical treatise, Einleitung in die Geiste-
The Influence of Positivism The Influence of Neo-Kantians swissenschaften of 1883, in which he con-
Burckhardt endorsed Wolfflin's program Aesthetics was one of W6lfflin's strong trasted positivism, the method of the natural
to specialize in philosophy. But Woilfflininterests. Johannes Volkelt, who taught sciences, with his alternative method for
Wolfflin aesthetics at the University of
found his early association with Burckhardt the cultural sciences, or Geisteswissen-
not wholly productive, because from the Basel in 1884, was particularly influentialschaften. Dilthey formulated a coherent
beginning he sought a method for the studybecause he directed Wolfflin to consider
response to the positivists-Comte, Buck-
of history, which Burckhardt did not seem the nature of form in art. 12 Volkelt's most
le, and Mill-who proposed to apply the
important work in aesthetics was Der Sym-methods of the natural sciences to the dis-
to offer.4 Surprisingly, Burckhardt admired
Henry Thomas Buckle's History of Civili- bolbegriffin der neuesten Aesthetik (1876),
ciplines focusing on man.
zation in England of 1857-61, which did
where he traced the concept of "symbol- The main part of Dilthey's book con-
provide a method-positivism. Wolfflin ization" chronologically, discussing Rob- sisted of an examination of the ascendancy
ert Zimmerman, Hegel, Hermann Lotze, and decline of metaphysics in history. He
himself briefly expressed enthusiasm for
Buckle, as well as for another proponent ofFriedrich Theodor Vischer, his son Robert proposed substituting a new epistemology
the inductive method in the humanities, Vischer, Gustav Fechner, and others. Sym- for the dead metaphysics: an epistemology
August Bockh, who had taught philology bolization meant, to Lotze, the Vischers,of the cultural disciplines based on de-
at the University of Berlin until 1865.s and Volkelt, that the relationship of thescriptive psychology. Dilthey contended
Biockh, in his book on the methodology of viewer to works of art is pantheistic, an-that the one central element that distin-
the philological sciences, advocated boththropomorphic,
a empathetic; in short, that
guishes the cultural from the natural sci-
scientific and hermeneutic approach to the the subject imbues the object with life. ences is "consciousness." His conception
study ofphilology.6 During his long teach- They explained the various stages of thisof consciousness is historical; through it
ing career, Bockh taught many outstanding relationship by means of psychological and one could reconstruct and re-experience
figures, including Burckhardt, Karl Otfriedphysiological processes. These descriptionsanother person's inner world. Dilthey
Muller, and Wilhelm Dilthey, all of whom of symbolization were crude and hypothet- thought that consciousness was the basis
had an important influence on Wiolfflin. ical. In his dissertation, Prolegomena zu of all human knowledge and that only by
Philology was the most important disci- einer Psychologie der Architektur (1886), investigating consciousness would an ex-
pline in the German academic system inWolfflin adopted the general concept ofplanation of knowledge be possible. The
the late nineteenth century; it embraced the anthropomorphism of the object, that method he proposed was antithetical to the
world history and developed methods ofis, the idea that the parts of a building, fornaturalistic, causal models of positivism,
textual analysis,' complementing philoso- instance, are like the limbs of the humanwhich he felt could not be used to under-
phy in method and subject matter. The body.13 Unlike the philosophers of sym-stand the inner life and experience of man.
subject had special importance for Wolfflinbolization, WoSlfflin cited experimental Logic, for Dilthey, is an interpretative
because of his father's great influence. results---of Gustav Fechner and Wilhelm device that provides a structure for lived
Eduard Wolfflin's conception of Heinrich's Wundt-in support of the theory. He had experience; logic is the best means to un-
education was quite different from his become interested in their research when derstand consciousness, since it connects
son's: Heinrich wanted to broaden his studying with the philosopher Wilhelm thought with its underlying psychic and

Winter 1982 293

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psychophysical phenomena. Dilthey was and intellectual certitude, and of historicism fine arts.
opposed to applying the a priori logic of and universal laws. The great hopes for psychology were
mathematics to the cultural sciences. Ac- reinforced by experiments which seemed
cording to Dilthey, the logic of the cultural Evidence of Neo-Kantianism in Wolfflin'sto prove the prevalent aesthetic notions of
sciences is not an unchanging, a prioriEarly Writings the day. But still more was hoped for.
foundation, but is dependent on languageWolfflin constructed his dissertation, Pro-Wolfflin believed psychology would even-
and its content, which changes throughoutlegomena zu einer Psychologie der Archi-tually prove that "the organization of the
history. Dilthey proposed a heuristic meth-tektur, on a framework of neo-Kantianism. human body is the constant denominator
od: the foundational science of all the cul- It included an idiosyncratic interpretationof all change," the ultimate resolution of
tural sciences would be a descriptive psy-of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason."7 Wolf-the relationship between subject and ob-
chology, and logic would provide the struc-flin believed that Kant defined a "system"ject.19 The extent of W61fflin's faith in
ture for the experience of consciousness. in terms of organic, harmonious develop-psychology is clear in this quotation from
The parallels between Wolfflin's writ- ment. The "system" is a unity of parts, his dissertation:
ings and Dilthey's are clear: the belief thatcoordinated by an idea expressing the goal
psychology would provide the regulative and form of the whole. The system grows One could reason a posteriori from
laws for all the humanities, the logical the idea of such a psychology of art,
from within, like an animal. The regu-
structure of their theories, the avoidance oflating principle in Wolfflin's dissertation from the impression that we receive,
causal statements, the antipathy to both is the organic analogy: "Our physical to the feeling of a people that pro-
Hegel and materialism, the attempts toorganization is the form by which we com- duced these forms, these proportions.
bring philosophical idealism into harmonyprehend everything corporeal."18 He ap- One could raise the following objec-
with nineteenth-century science, and thepealed to this analogy because the discon- tions: the conclusions are unjustified;
centrality of consciousness. In the Princi- tinuity between experience and the object relationships and lines do not always
ples of Art History, Wolfflin used the con-of experience could not be empirically re- signify the same thing; the human
feeling for form changes.
solved; the analogy provided a connection
These objections cannot be dis-
without requiring a causal relationship.
/ y / I proved so long as one has no psycho-
Wolfflin explicitly invoked Kant as the
source of this idea. logical basis. However, as soon as
7i -i-
The two main ideas in W6lfflin's disser- one can prove that the organization
of the human body is the constant
/* tation are: (1) to give a more modem and
~Z?'' //i denominator of all change, one is
scientific basis to the traditional theory
secure against this assault, because
/" that architecture is organized by the pro-
the uniformity of this organization
portions of the human body, and (2) to
- :- : :- ::il
--::/ provide experimental psychological evi-
also guarantees the uniformity of the
feeling for form.20
dence to demonstrate that the forms of
I::a~: whichg~,:,-,c%::!ii~i'iiii@i
~~J buildings are composed directly Although Wolfflin retained his belief in
communicate organic, human "laws." The psychology, the form of this belief did
I I
main thesis is that architecture is expres- change. For how could art change if the
sive to man precisely because it expresseshuman organization did not change? Like
in the same way that man does. Architec- Dilthey, he increasingly inclined towards
ture is analogous to man in both structurean empirical examination of the evidence.
and function. By means of the physiog- A statement by Dilthey defined their com-
nomic analogy, Wo61fflin discovered the mon goal:
impulse to engender life in the forms on
The task of our generation is clearly
the fagades of buildings: windows are like
before us: following Kant's critical
Fig. 2 A page from W61lfflin's notes eyes, a cornice is like brows, and so on.
path, but in cooperation with re-
of Burckhardt's lectures Architectural concerning terminology supported the
searchers in other areas, we must
"A History of the Modern analogy. The evidence
Period, that seemed to prove
1450-
found an empirical science of the
1598." Dated Novemberthe28, thesis1882.
came from the experiments of
human mind. It is necessary to know
Wundt and Fechner. For example, Wundt
the laws which rule social, intellec-
cept of consciousness to distinguish be-
demonstrated that subjects associated lines
tween early and late Renaissance tual, and moral phenomena. This
and colors as if art. The the same
they expressed
knowledge of laws is the source of
consciousness of the means thing:ofthe representa-
hasty back and forth movement
tion of the artists of the of sixteenth and sev- with red, all the power of man, even where
a zigzag line was associated
enteenth centuries meant while that their art was
blue was associated with curves. mental phenomena are concerned.21
better than that produced infeelings
These the period of could easily One of the problems facing late-nine-
and expressions
unconsciousness, the Quattrocento. be communicated W61lf-
by architectural forms.teenth-century philosophers was the reso-
flin, also like Dilthey, struggled with
Fechner performed the
experiments that indi-
lution of the conflict between positivism
limitations of his method, catedcautioning
that slim subjects that
preferred slim pro-and idealism. It was thought that the em-
it produced only a schema. Unlike
portions. Even theHegel,
tempo of a subject's pirical study of the mind might provide a
Dilthey and Wolfflin did not attempt
breathing was adduced as toa reason for hissolution, as well as providing a founda-
think the thoughts of God. Dilthey
preference gradu-
for particular proportions ortional science for all the Geisteswissen-
ally came to believe that when shapes. Itthe
was alimits
short step of from this evi-
schaften. Reading Eduard Zeller and Fried-
the scientific or logical dence method had been
to the conclusion that whole peoples
rich Albert Lange and studying with Fried-
reached, "the results [have cognitive
expressed value]
their character and the mood ofrich Paulsen could only have confirmed for
only from the standpoint theof
timeinner experi-
through their architectural formsWoilfflin the early neo-Kantian position that
ence." One can see the general -and not onlyinconsist-
in architectural forms, for psychology was the proper basis of Kant's
encies of neo-Kantianism in Wolfflin's the will, or "impulse of form" (Form- Critique.22 Zeller proposed, in Erkenntnis-
theory: the opposition of relativism and kraft), was first expressed in shoes, cos- theorie, the use of logic as a scientific
universal values, of cognitive limitations tume, and decoration and only later in the method and the theory of psychologism
294 Art Journal
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based on the physiology of the brain.
Lange's Geschichte des Materialismus was
a critique of materialism in which he dis-
IN

cussed the epistemological limits of science X

N ?:N

and, like Zeller, proposed that the discov- ..... .....

eries of physiologists were an advance on

Kant's theory. Friedrich Paulsen, who also
taught Wolfflin philosophy and psychology IVA
at the University of Berlin, was a biogra-
lq\ s, IONO

pher of Kant and the author of a history of ING,

German universities. He was convinced

that positivism was unable to account for
the meaning and value of human experi-
ence. But the specific features of W6lfflin's . .. .... . ......

psychologism derived from Dilthey, who

often referred to Fechner, Wundt, and
Helmholtz in his lectures, as well as from 6 Ole
the aestheticians of symbolization. Like
Dilthey, Wolfflin often stated in his note-
IMP

books that psychology was the foundation

of historical science but that psychology
xx

could not be compared to mechanics, which

was the foundation of the natural sciences.23
Mechanics is ahistorical, while psychology
Fig. 3 Heinrich Wolfflin (seated, with hat) among his students and friends in th
is historical, and this was a crucial division.
Evidence that Wolfflin conceived his Kunstmuseum, Basel, winter semester 1895/96. In the background are three pain
history of art in Renaissance and Baroque by Arnold Bicklin, including a Self-Portrait.
directly in relation to Dilthey's theory in
Einleitung in die Geisteswissenschaftenance is with ideas proposed in Dilthey'scouldEin-not comprehend. Since Hermes also
in a note book for the preparation of the leitung in die Geisteswissenschaften.26 discovered
The language and writing, it is ap-
book: outline was entitled "Einleitung in die that he became the eponym of the
propriate
Kunstwissenschaft." Like Dilthey's book,art of interpretation.29
Dilthey: my viewpoint is that of a Wolfflin read August Bockh and Dilthey
which contained a long history of meta-
philosophy of experience which also
physics and its decline and a proposal onforhermeneutics.
a He confronted the same
preserves impartially the facts of in-
new method, the outline comprised abasic his- problem as Dilthey in the 1880s: to
ner experience and strives to protect
tory of "Kunstwissenschaft" and aesthet-reconcile the positivist Western European
the opposite, the products of study tradition with German idealism and meta-
ics, followed by an idea for a new method,
of the exterior world. In opposition
psychology. Wolfflin listed three types physics.
of Philosophers of hermeneutics in
to Hegel, therefore, I explain the the twentieth century developed a set of
explanation (Erkliirung) of images, really
development of philosophy not out interrelated interpretive concepts which
a step-by-step procedure for analyzing a
of the relationships of concepts in are useful in bridging the chasm between
work of art: factual interpretation or de-
abstract thought, but out of changes them.
scription, stylistic interpretation, and cul- Hermeneutics, "the art of under-
in all humanity due to man's whole standing" (Verstehen is a key concept),31
tural historical combined with psycholog-
animation and reality.
Also valid for art. Universal inter-
ical interpretation (Begreifung), whichis a mental process of re-experiencing and
united the first two. Wi1fflin used reconstructing
this the past. Understanding is
pretation. method in Renaissance and Baroque, be-
dialectical, or comparative, since it can be
1) History of vision (scientifically attained only through the interaction be-
ginning with descriptions of the Renais-
important)
sance and Baroque styles, generalizing tween past and present viewpoints. Under-
2) History of the feeling for form
standing is circular, because the leap from
about the characteristics of the two styles,
(style) = feeling for life
part to whole and whole to part is discon-
and explaining their discontinuity in terms
3) History of feeling and taste. tinuous, independent of logical analysis,
of a cultural psychology. The procedure
Evaluation of the world.24
was like that suggested by Dilthey for sequential,
the and never-ending. And, finally,
In this entry, Wiolfflin clarified his under- Geisteswissenschaften and excluded con- it is contextual and historical; it presup-
standing of Dilthey's concepts and how poses a tradition to which we are all bound.
cepts of the scientific method and causality.
they might be applied to art. The three "We can be in no nonpositional under-
considerations in the history of art-vision, Hermeneutics and Woifflin standing of anything," as Dilthey said.31
feeling for form (Formgefiihl), and taste-- Much has been missed by associating Wilf-Circular reasoning is intrinsic to herme-
are types of statements that can be found in flin either with the Hegelian traditionneutic
or thought. The historian is forever
Wilfflin's books, particularly Part II of aware of the limiting conditions of all un-
with a radical positivism. It is especially
Classic Art and throughout the Principles of derstanding and interpretation. In order to
puzzling that such variant interpretations
Art History. They correspond to Dilthey's could be made, sometimes in the same understand the whole, it is necessary to
three classes of statements in the Einlei- essay (Hauser's, for one). They gloss understand
over the parts, while to understand
tung--descriptive, explanatory, and nor- the real tensions in W61fflin's theorythe of
parts it is necessary to have some initial
mative.25 And Dilthey stated that united art, which appear when the relation tointuition
her- of the whole. Understanding is an
they defined his concept of Verstehen ormeneutic concepts is discovered.27 ever-widening, never-ending spiral. W6lf-
"understanding." The word "hermeneutics" derives from flin wrote: "Only when the whole was
An outline of 1888 for Renaissance and Hermes, the Greek messenger god who taken together as a system could the feeling
mediated between the divine and mortal,28 for the differentiation of parts awaken, and
Baroque further demonstrates that Wiolfflin
thought of constructing the book in accord-communicating to man what he otherwise only within a severe, tactile unity could the
Winter 1982 295
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partial forms develop an independent ef- description of art became the explanation a widespread error of dilettantes that every-
fect.''32 The circle is vicious only if you for changes in it. thing is possible at all times."40 W6lfflin's
have a certain ideal of knowledge: that of Certain concepts (reminiscent of later conception of his own historical milieu
total objectivity. Hermeneutic philosophers hermeneutic ones) in Wolfflin's theory of reinforced his choice of subject matter. He
do not view objectivity as the ultimate art appeared very early in his work. A contrasted idealism with materialism and
goal, but contend, rather, that an under- recurring theme is "man versteht nur was naturalism and stated his goal in a letter of
standing that leads to interpretation and man selbst kann" or "one understands 1884: "to cherish the rights of religion and
criticism is the aim of historical work. only what one knows oneself."34 The im- idealism in our materialistic age is surely a
Some components of W6lfflin's evolv- plication is that one cannot extricate oneself
beautiful problem."41 The change he found
ing theory of art can be related to recent from the impact of one's environment in andsixteenth-century art was similar to what
hermeneutic philosophy. In Wilfflin's life- nature; there are limitations to understand-
he hoped would occur in nineteenth-century
time, hermeneutics developed from an in- ing. He often repeated this statementthought.
of
ductive method of criticism and interpreta- 1886 later in his books. An earlier versionAn overarching paradox in Wolfflin's
tion in August B6ckh's teachings, to an was "I can experience nothing that is method
not is revealed in the Principles of Art
epistemological basis for the Geisteswis- History:
already in me,"a3 very similar to Dilthey's
senschaften in Dilthey, to a phenomenology definition of understanding as a re-enact-
But the power of human imagination
of Being in Sein und Zeit where Heidegger ment of mental processes: "We understand
will always make its organization
gave up epistemology for ontology. None- only that which we allow to happen over
and its possibilities of development
theless, Wolfflin probably did not use her- again in ourselves."36 In Classic Art, this
meaningful in art history. It is true
meneutic concepts consciously. statement became the rationale for Woilf-
that one sees only what one seeks, but
Dilthey's philosophy changed after his flin's understanding of the "classicism"
of classic art: also one only seeks what one can see.
book of 1883, Einleitung in die Geiste-
Doubtless certain forms of percep-
swissenschaften. Gradually he perceived
One sees always only what one seeks, tion typify the possibilities; whether
that the psychology that was evolving as a
and it requires a long education and how they come to develop de-
discipline could not be the foundation of
(which may not be possible in an pends on external circumstances.42
the cultural sciences, and he turned instead
to hermeneutics to understand the nature artistically productive age) to over-
Wolfflin stated the circularity of his thought
come naive perception, for it has
of culture and history, experience and without apology: on the one hand, precon-
nothing to do with the object's reflec-
meaning. Introspection as a psychological tion on the retina.37 ceptions from past interpretations always
method created problems that could be condition what we see and understand,
overcome only by interpreting what is giv- Wolfflin's idea of perception was the and, on the other, present perception limits
en as expression. Not only were psychol- same as Kant's, Helmholtz's, and Hilde- how we interpret the past. Seeing is always
ogists' methods inappropriate, but their brand's: "percepts without concepts are "seeing as, " context-bound. He stated the
most relevant subjects for exploration- blind.""3 Wolfflin concluded that the clas- conflict between interpreting historical
consciousness and self-reflection-were sicism of sixteenth-century art is a conse- material from a present viewpoint and un-
being ignored. quence of the classicism of the artists. Art- derstanding what that historical age was
ists were not trying to imitate antiquity, trying to communicate in its own time. He
Such self-reflection is accomplished
they were antique. With the development could never decide whether the art, as
by every individual and constantly
of a new taste, a new sense of beauty and "forms of perception," determined per-
renews itself in different grades. It is
human dignity, artists perceived the close- ception and the world view or whether the
always present and expresses itself
ness of their own image to that of antique latter conditioned the art. He derived the
in ever-new forms. It is present in
the verses of Solon as well as in the models and thus began to see antiquity as it nature of human imagination in a given
reflections of the Stoics, in the medi-
really was. According to W6lfflin, the period from the nature of its art. In the
tations of the saints as well as in the proper sensibility had to develop before article "Uber den Begriff des Malerischen"
the "imitation" was successful. of 1913, Wolfflin clarified the interrela-
life-philosophy of modern times. It
The circularity of this argument is obvi-tionship of the two concepts linear and
alone makes historical insight possi-
ous. The only evidence Wolfflin provided painterly with the variables that affected
ble. The power and breadth of one's
for the equivalence of the classicism of them, in a reciprocal relationship of part to
own life and the energy with which
we reflect on it are the foundation of sixteenth-century art and artists was the artwhole and whole to part:
historical vision.33 itself. If finally, the art was grand and
Each form of perception, the linear
sublime, after attempts by Quattrocento
and the painterly, has a cognitive
Hermeneutic understanding replaced psy- artists to achieve the same result, the ex-
and a "decorative" side: every new
chology as the basis of the cultural sciences. planation was that the artists became grand
optic is united with a new ideal of
In Renaissance and Baroque of 1888, a and sublime.
beauty. . . . We encounter here the
hermeneutic argument prevailed. Style was
Each generation sees in the world connections between beauty and the
viewed as equivalent to a feeling for form what is similar to it. The fifteenth world view, and in regard to that the
(Formgefiihl), will, and mood. The pre-
century must infer, understandably, philosophy of history asks the ques-
sumed identity of art and psychological tion: to what extent the fixed decora-
a totally different value of beauty of
feeling probably contributed to the anthro-
visibility from the sixteenth century, tive feeling of a period determines
pomorphizing of Wilfflin's descriptive the cognition and to what extent will
for it faces it with different organs.39
vocabulary: the Baroque style is restless,
it be determined by the content of
solemn, overwhelming, pathological, and Wolfflin inferred a development in percep-
cognition. Not everything is possi-
in a state of becoming, whereas the Renais- tual functioning to account for change in
ble at all times in the visual arts. Not
sance style is calm, complacent, graceful, art: a simplification and clarification of
all thoughts can be thought in all
still, and in a state of being. For Wolfflin, sight, as well as an increasing desire for
the proof of a change from Renaissance torichness, were responsible for these same periods.43
Baroque "feeling" or psychology was the characteristics in sixteenth-century art. Thus, one could determine cognitive and
discontinuity of the styles. He deduced the The circular argument has an awareness decorative feelings from the "form of per-
nature of man from the nature of art; theof historical limitations built into it. "It is ception" (art). And each new art is self-

296 Art Journal

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 understand:

Each artist finds fixed optical possi-

bilities to which he is bound. Not
everything is possible at all times.
Perception itself has its history, and
the discovery of these "optical strata"
must be viewed as the most elemen-
tary problem of art history.45
Recent authors on hermeneutics have de-
psychologized the issue; today understand-
ing is characterized by its linguistic nature
and by the fact that it is conjunctural. The
historical process is emphasized in this
conception of understanding.46 Wolfflin,
too, saw art as a language of form (in
ek::

......... . :
addition to "forms of perception") which
"changed according to grammar and syn-
...... . ....

tax" and in which "the effect of image on

image is much more important as a factor
in style than what comes immediately from
natural observation.""47
Dilthey gradually discovered the con-
tradiction in positing psychology as the
foundational discipline of the cultural sci-
.4.r '
ences, but Wilfflin did not. If "perception
itself has its history," how can it provide a
foundation for the history of art? Once it is
transformed into history, perception is un-
able to ground history. In Wolfflin's theory,
perception and psychology have entered
the hermeneutic circle.

-... . . ....
Since the entire history of perception
(history of ideas) must transcend
i: Z:_i;-:-:- i -_:?i?i

mere art, it is evident also that such

national differences of the "eye"
are more than a matter of taste: deter-
mining and determined, they contain
the bases of the whole world-image
of a people.48
In Wolfflin's and Dilthey's thought, the
idea of a foundational science became an
unquestioned assumption, never fully val-
idated, but necessary as a point of depar-
ture.49
Fig. 4 Heinrich Wolfflin
Historians of the nineteenth century dis-
tinguish between positivists and others with
limiting, because
objective understanding of them. Wolfflina "scientistic" inclination.so
only Wolfflin had a
ideas affirmed this:available
are at
a foot in each camp. His empiricism derived any
why the description largely from the psychologists-Fechner,of
Each period apprehends things with
planation for changes
Helmholtz, Ebbinghaus, and Wundt-who in
its eyes and no one will dispute this
with a new Renaissance founded the modern scientific discipline of
right. But the historian must ask each
of form were new ideals
psychology. They sought the laws of mental
time how an object demands to be
a new decorative functioning thatfeeling
Wolfflin eagerly awaited.
seen from its own point of view.44
the individual to the
Side by side in Wolfflin's writings were wo
of feeling, a
He expressed the historicity different
of the critical
the pantheistic, mystical remnants of earlier t
set of qualities
circle. The historian attempts to attain an psychologist-philosophers,
and like Lotze
exprand
most a new vision. The exact interaction of understanding (Verstehen) of the past by the Vischers, and the empiricist discipline
these variables remained rather mysterious. various means. Dilthey, as we have seen,of Wundt and Helmholtz.
Wolfflin often acknowledged the limitsconsidered understanding to be a process Wolfflin's method in all his books is
as well as the necessity of historical inter-of psychological reconstruction, of re- empirical. He nearly always began by mar-
pretation. The essential condition of man experiencing, a method of bridging pastshaling the facts, gathering them together
(or, as Heidegger put it, the distinctiveand present, author and reader, art and in a systematic way, and ended with induc-
ontological mark of man) is the fact that hespectator. Wolfflin knew that the possibilitytively derived hypotheses. For example, in
is temporally and historically situated.of understanding was directly in the forms Classic Art, he discussed early sixteenth-
Consciousness of the historical nature of century works of art by artist and region.
of perception or styles that the artists cre-
understanding creates awareness of differ- ated. If we characterized their art clearly,In the last three chapters he generalized
ent viewpoints and the possibility of anwe could see as they saw and therefore about his findings. In The Art of Albrecht

Winter 1982 297

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Diirer and Renaissance and Baroque, he Notes
These concepts have, in themselves,
pursued the same strategy. He attempted This essay is based on a talk delivered at
in their changing, an inner necessity.
to synthesize the results of all his previous the College Art Association Annual Meet-
They represent a rational psycholog-
research in the Principles of Art History. ing in New York, 1982. I wish to express
ical process. The progress from the
By today's standards his empirical method special thanks and appreciation to Martin
is crude. tactile, plastic interpretation to a pure-
Jay, Professor of History at the University
ly optical-painterly one has a natural
The older Woilfflin became, the less of California at Berkeley, for sharing his
logic and could not be reversed.54
"positive" he was. He was optimistic in extensive knowledge of German intellec-
his dissertation that psychology would pro- Wiolfflin went beyond historical herme- tual history and hermeneutics. His com-
vide laws of human development. He was neutics when he posited a law in the history ments and suggestions for this paper and
less confident in each new book. And in- of art.ss* my dissertation ("Heinrich Wolfflin: An
creasingly, the hermeneutic statements thatThus, two methodologies coexist in Intellectual Biography," University of Cal-
Wolfflin made in order to explain the phe- W6lfflin's theory of artistic development: ifornia at Berkeley, 1981) were extremely
nomena he derived by empirical means the first is the awareness of the inescapa- helpful. My thanks also extend to the fol-
were not consistent with his method. bility of historical interpretation (historic- lowing individuals for their comments and
Wolfflin's use of an empirical method ity), its tentative nature, and the resultant encouragement: Joseph Gantner, E. H.
of historical analysis was opposed to the circular understanding; the second is the Gombrich, L. D. Ettlinger, Georg Ger-
hermeneutic search for understanding. To- search for regulating principles by objec- mann, Janet Kennedy, Marilyn McCully,
day this has been made quite clear. Gada- tive, scientific means. Wolfflin leaves us Loren Partridge, Claudia Neugebauer, and
mer ironically entitled his book Truth and with this fundamental question: are the Henri Zerner.
Methods' because truth is not attained two ultimately compatible or in conflict? This new interpretation of Wolfflin is
through method; they are mutually exclu-Is it possible for a theory to remain within based on my reasearch in the Wolfflin ar-
sive objectives. Gadamer distinguishes be-the hermeneutic circle of understanding chive in Basel, in German intellectual his-
tween the scientific and linear nature of and the limitations of its own historical
tory,
methods and the historical and circular na- conditions and still articulate laws or regu- and in in
to contents hermeneuticis.
the archive areAll cited
references.
as
ture of understanding. Understanding is lative principles that transcend the "Nachlass."
results All translations from the Ger-
contingent, contextual, and provisional. of interpretation and understanding?s5 We man are mine unless otherwise noted. I
Opposed to it are forms of "objectivism,"ought to continue the discussion. would like to thank Dr. Steinmann and
like the scientific method, that hold that Herr Stoickli at the University Library Basel
"in principle there is an unchanging mean- for their exceptional courtesy to me over
ing that must be presupposed as the goal of the years.
every interpretation if it is to be believed 1 Herbert Read, "Introduction" to Hein-
that some interpretations are more true or rich Wolfflin, Classic Art, London,
correct than others.52 Phaidon, 1968; E. H. Gombrich, In
Wolfflin's writings have often been con- Search of Cultural History, Oxford,
sidered scientific and systematic, even dog- Clarendon, 1969. Gombrich believes
matic and deterministic. Surely he could that the Hegelian "formula" dominated
not be pursuing scientific objectivism and Wolfflin's oeuvre.
a circular interpretation at the same time. The literature on Wolfflin is large,
But this was not so obvious to him and it is and extremely varied interpretations of
in fact precisely the conflict that exists in his theories have been offered. Christine
his work: McCorkel ("Sense and Sensibility: An
No one will want to assert that "the Epistemological Approach to the Phi-
losophy of Art History," Journal of
eye" accomplishes developments in
Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Fall 1975,
itself. Determining and determined,
XXXIV, pp. 35-50) describes the nor-
it always overlaps into different spir-
mal American interpretation and sub-
itual spheres. There is no optical
scribes to it. Arnold Hauser ("The Phil-
schema that, only resulting from its
osophical Implications of Art History:
own premises, could be imposed on
'Art History without Names,"' in The
the world like a dead pattern. But if
one also at all times sees as one wants Philosophy of Art History, Cleveland,
Meridian, 1965) states that "this pow-
to see, that does not exclude the pos-
erful effect of Hegel's thought is still
sibility that a law exists throughout
present in Wolfflin's 'anonymous art
all change. To know this law would
be the main problem, the basic prob- history.'' James Ackerman ("Toward
a New Social Theory of Art," New
lem of a scientific art history.5s3
Literary History, Winter 1973, IV, pp.
At the beginning of this passage, Wolfflin 315-30) states that Hegelian art history
expresses the circular theory of understand- is "best exemplified in Heinrich Wolf-
ing and its tentative nature, juxtaposing it flin and Alois Riegl."
with the hope of finding the law that exists 2 Joseph Gantner, ed., Jacob Burckhardt
despite the continual, inexorable flux. He undHeinrich Wlfflin: Briefwechselund
suggests towards the end of the Principles andere Dokumente ihrer Begegnung,
of Art History that this law is the spiral 1882-1897, Basel, Benno Schwabe,
movement of the two concepts, the alter- 1948, p. 21. Letter from Eduard Wolf-
nating sets of the dichotomy of styles flin to Jacob Burckhardt, from Munich,
throughout the history of art: 7 Dec. 1882.
3 Nachlass (III A 69), Letter from Woilf
flin to his parents, from Basel, 11 Ma

298 Art Journal

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 1884: "Am hochsten aber steht mir die die grossen Gesetze der geistigen Ent- rather than an idiosyncratic one of the
Philosophie. Sie fasst je eine ganze Zeit wicklung des Menschengeschlechtes first. This is true, but Wolfflin does
zusammen. Ich wiirde sie entscheiden herauszieht?" refer to the first.
18 Ibid., p. 21.
als Grundlage fiir jede hohere Kultur-11 Fritz K. Ringer, The Decline of the
gesch. w@ihlen; Philosophie und Kultur- German Mandarins: The German Aca- 19 Later Dilthey suggested a non-psycho-
gesch. erganzen sich gegenseitig, beide demic Community, 1890-1933, Cam- logical Verstehen as mediator between
haben zum Object den Menschen, den bridge, Harvard, 1969, Chapter V, subject and object; later psychologizing
ganzen denkenden, wollenden, fiihlen- "The Origins of the Cultural Crisis, philosophers preferred Einfiihlung or
den Menschen. Die eine analysirt ihn, 1890-1920." "empathy."
die andre giebt seine Geschichte." 12 Nachlass (III A 71), Letter from20 Wolfflin, Kleine Schriften, p. 46.
Wolf-
Burckhardt's familiar words appear in flin to his parents, from Basel, 23 orGombrich's 30 suggestion (in a letter to
this quotation. May 1884; Nachlass (III A 72), Letter the author) that Wolfflin "shares with
4 The theme of finding a method is per- from WSlfflin to his parents, fromthe Ba-Hegelians the explicandum though
vasive in Wlifflin's notebooks and let- sel, June 1884. not the explanation" is not unlikely.
ters during his years at the universities, 13 The dissertation is reprinted in Heinrich The "uniformity of the feeling for
1882 through 1886. In 1885, Woilfflin Wiolfflin, Kleine Schriften (1886-1933), form" is the explicandum.
wrote his father from Berlin: "There ed. J. Gantner. Basel, B. Schwabe, 21 Dilthey, Gesammelte Schriften, V, p.
are two methods, the philosophical and 1946, pp. 13-47. In it are references to 27, quoted in English by Ermarth (Wil-
the philological, that both have justice" publications by Lotze, both Vischers, helm Dilthey, p. 142). From "Die Dich-
(Nachlass III A 117). Wblfflin's notes Volkelt, Fechner, and Wundt. terische und Philosophische Bewegung
from Burckhardt's course, "Geschichte 14 Nachlass (II A 9), Wolfflin's notes from in Deutschland 1770-1800" (Antritts-
d. neuern Zeit, 1450-1598," from win- Dilthey's course "Logik und Erkennt- vorlesung in Basel, 1867): "Die unsrige
ter semester 1882/83, still exist (Nach- nistheorie," winter semester 1885/86, ist uns klar vorgezeichnet: Kants kriti-
lass II A 6). University of Berlin; Nachlass Note- schen Weg zu verfolgen, eine Erfahrungs-
5 Buckle is mentioned in an important book 8, p. 179, probably 1885, W61fflin wissenschaft des menschlichen Geistes
letter from Wiolfflin to his father, from listed Dilthey's books with those of im Zusammenwirken mit den Forschern
Basel, 1 Dec. 1882 (Nachlass III A Wundt and Fechner that were cited by anderer Gebiete zu begriinden; es gilt,
46). Bockh is frequently mentioned in Dilthey in his course. Wo1fflin studied die Gesetze, welche die gesellschaft-
Wolfflin's notebooks, e.g., Nachlass psychology with Volkelt in Basel and lichen, intellektuellen, moralischen
Notebook 6, 1883, p. 49. with Paulsen and Ebbinghaus in Ber- Erscheinungen beherrschen, zu erken-
6 August B6ckh, Encyklopdidie undMeth- lin. As a result, he was familiar with nen. Diese Erkenntnis der Gesetze ist
odologie der philologischen Wissen- the many evolving theories in modem die Quelle aller Macht des Menschen
schaften, Leipzig, B. G. Teubner, 1886, psychology. auch gegeniiber den geistigen Erschein-
2nd ed. (first published in 1887). Burck- 15 Thomas E. Willey, Back to Kant: The ungen."
hardt assigned Bockh's book for his Revival ofKantianism in German Social22 Wolfflin discussed Zeller and Lange in
course in modem history. and Historical Thought, 1860-1914. Nachlass Notebook 8, pp. 41, 50, 104
7 Fritz K. Ringer, "Higher Education in Detroit, Wayne State University Press, and Notebook 9, 1885, pp. 32, 118,
Germany in the Nineteenth Century," 1978, p. 74 and passim; Michael and passim. Willey, Back to Kant, dis-
Schule und Gesellschaft im 19. Jahr- Ermarth, Wilhelm Dilthey: The Critique cussed Zeller, Lange, and Paulsen.
hundert: Sozialgeschichte der Schule of Historical Reason, Chicago and Lon- Wolfflin also read Otto Liebmann (Kant
im Ubergang zur Industriegesellschaft, don, University of Chicago, 1978, pp. und die Epigonen) and Wilhelm Win-
ed. Ulrich Hermann, Weinheim und 73-75. See also Ringer, The Decline of delband, both of whom were opposed
Basel, Beltz, 1977, pp. 332-47. the German Mandarins, Chapter 6. to psychologism. Nachlass Notebooks
8 Nachlass (IV 1366), Letter from Eduard Willey's book is the main source for 12 and 13, 1885-86, are devoted almost
Wolfflin to Heinrich, from Munich, 10 this discussion of neo-Kantianism. exclusively to Kant and neo-Kantian
Dec. 1882; Eduard Wolfflin, Ausge- 16 Nachlass (III A 75-107), Letters from interpretations of Kant.
wiihlte Schriften, ed. Gustav Meyer, Wi1fflin to his parents in 1885; Nach- 23 Nachlass Notebook 14, 1886/87, p.
Leipzig, Dieterich, 1833, includes an lass Notebook 9 (1885), p. 9, where 158, in a discussion of Droysen. In his
essay by Johannes Stroux, "Eduard Woilfflin stated that Dilthey's book is dissertation, p. 45, Wolfflin compared
Wolfflin und die lateinische Philolo- "a foundation for the study of society mechanics to psychology as founda-
gie," p. 330: "he [E. Wolfflin] took a and history." Wilhelm Dilthey, Ein- tions, but he recognized the profound
great interest in methodological exacti- leitung in die Geisteswissenschaften, differences between them, also, in his
tude." Leipzig, Duncker & Humblot, 1883. Of notes.
9 Comparative philology was an impor- the number of books that have been writ- 24 Nachlass Notebook 14, 1887, p. 160:
tant field in the late nineteenth century. ten about Dilthey, Michael Ermarth's "Dilthey: Mein Standpunkt ist der
Wolfflin wrote an outline in 1885 (Nach- Wilhelm Dilthey, (cited in n. 15) is by einer Erfahrungsphilosophie, welche
lass Notebook 9, p. 46) called "Princi- far the best. Also useful is Rudolf auch die Tatsachen der innern Erfahrung
ples of a Comparative History of Art," Makkreel, Dilthey. Philosopher of theunbefangen zu gewahren und den Ergeb-
based on A. H. Sayce The Principles of Human Studies, Princeton, Princeton nissen des Studiums der Aussenwelt
Comparative Philology, London, Triib- University Press, 1975. Georg Iggers,gegeniiber zu schiitzen strebt. Ich erkaire
ner & Co., 1874. I will discuss this in The German Conception of History,daher im Gegensatz gegen Hegel die
my book. Middletown, Conn., Wesleyan, 1968, Entwicklung der Philosophie nicht aus
10 Nachlass (III A 46), Letter from Wilf- summarizes the Einleitung very accu-den Beziehungen der Begriffe aufeinan-
flin to his parents, from Basel, 1 Dec. der im abstrakten Denken, sondern aus
rately and also provides an interesting ac-
1882: "Kann die Geschichte, die bisher count of the history of neo-Kantianism.den Verainderungen im ganzen Men-
nur eine experientia war, zur Wissen- 17 Wolfflin, Kleine Schriften, p. 29. Mar- schen nach s. vollen Lebendigkeit und
schaft erhoben werden, indem man, tin Jay suggested that this sounds like Wirklichkeit.
nach dem Vorgange der Naturwissen- an orthodox interpretation of the third Gilt auf f. Kunst. Universale Auffas-
schaften, aus der Fiille der Tatsachen Critique, the Critique of Judgment,sung.
Winter 1982 299
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 1. Gesch. des Sehns. (wissenschaftl. and it is in the nature of hermeneuticsthe Prussian Academy in 1911, which
wichtig) that they never will be. But this does was a summary of ideas that were the
2. Gesch. des Formgefiihls (Stil)= not detract from the interest of the basis of the first edition of the Principles
Lebensgefiihls approach. of Art History of 1915. Panofsky ob-
3. Gesch. des Fiihlens und Genies- 30 Palmer, Hermeneutics, p. 75. Quotation jected to the literal way in which Wblf-
sens. Schitzg. der Welt."' of Schleiermacher. flin used the term "perception" (Optik).
25 Dilthey, Einleitung, p. 26. 31 Ibid., p. 121. Panofsky argued that Wolfflin must
26 Nachlass Notebook 20, 1888, p. 60r. 32 Kunstgeschichtliche Grundbegriffe, p. mean "expression," (the seelisch) and
27 The literature on hermeneutics is large 194. a metaphor of sight if the idea was to be
and growing larger. The following have33 Dilthey, Gesammelte Schriften, VII, p. understood ("Das Problem des Stils in
been especially useful: David Couzens 200, quoted in English by Ermarth (Wil- der bildenden Kunst," Aufsdtze zu
Hoy, The Critical Circle: Literature, helm Dilthey, p. 233). This passage is Grundfragen der Kunstwissenschaft,
History and Philosophical Hermeneu- excerpted from "Die Selbstbiogra- Berlin, 1964, first published in 1915).
tics, Berkeley, University of California phie, " part of an unpublished "Plan der In a sense, Panofsky was correct, for
Press, 1978; Hans-Georg Gadamer, Fortsetzung zum Aufbau der Geschicht- W6lfflin's use of these terms for "sight"
Truth and Method, London, Sheed & lichen Welt in den Geisteswissen- was restricted and unnuanced. How-
Ward, 1975; Richard E. Palmer, Her- schaften" (1907-1910?), which was ever, he certainly meant perception to
meneutics: Interpretation Theory in intended for the prospective second include concepts, and discussed the
Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger volume (never completed) of the 1883 relation of perception to other variables,
and Gadamer, Evanston, Northwestern Einleitung: "Solche Selbstbesinnung like "expression." He did not intend
University, 1969; Jiirgen Habermas, aber erneuert sich in irgendeinem Grade
such a limited and literal meaning of
Knowledge and Human Interests, Bos- in jedem Individuum. Sie ist immer da, "perception." At the end of the Princi-
ton, Beacon, 1971; idem, Communica- sie jiussert sich in immer neuen Formen. ples ofArt History (p. 256), he changed
tion and the Evolution of Society, Bos- Sie ist in den Versen des Solon so gut als
the term from Sehgeschichte to Vorstel-
ton, Beacon, 1979; Richard Rorty, in den Selbstbetrachtungen des stoischen lungsgeschichte and used different ter-
Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Philosophen, in den Meditationen der minology in later works.
Princeton, Princeton University Press, Heiligen, in der Lebensphilosophie49der Ermarth, Wilhelm Dilthey, pp. 233-34.
1979. 50 W. M. Simon, European Positivism in
modernen Zeit. Nur sie macht geschicht-
28 August Bockh, On Interpretation and liches Sehen moglich. Die Macht und the Nineteenth Century, Ithaca, Cor-
Criticism, trans. and ed. J. P. Pritchard, nell University Press, 1963, passim;
Breite des eigenen Lebens, die Energie
Norman, University of Oklahoma, der Besinnung uber dasselbe ist die Ermarth, Wilhelm Dilthey, p. 68: "how-
1968, p. 47. Grundlage des geschichtlichen Sehens."
ever ardently they desired to stay wholly
29 In the seventeenth century, hermeneu- It should be remembered that Wolf- within the realm of certain knowledge,
tics was a monopoly of Protestant Ger- flin was not only Dilthey's pupil, but
both positivism and empiricism tended
mans, and it has developed predomi- also his colleague at the University of
to assume the character of total expla-
nantly within the German philological Berlin from 1901 until Dilthey's death
nations of the world-a peculiar sort of
and philosophical tradition. At different in 1911. metaphysics modelled on physics."
times, the enterprise of understanding 34 W1olfflin, Prolegomena (diss.), Kleine Perhaps this explains the seeming Hege-
texts developed distinct methods and Schriften, p. 15. Probably from Aris- lian aspect of Wblfflin's theory.
strategies. Richard Palmer (Hermeneu- totle's Ethics. 51 Cited in n. 27.
tics, p. 33) distinguishes six modern 35 Nachlass Notebook 8, 1884, p. 132. 52 Hoy, The Critical Circle, p. 13.
definitions of the term, which are, in 36 Dilthey, Gesammelte Schriften, IX, 53 Kunstgeschichtliche Grundbegriffe, pp.
chronological order: (1) a theory of Pddagogik: Geschichte und Grund- 18-19.
biblical exegesis, developed by Protes- linien des Systems, 2nd ed., p. 258,54 Ibid., p. 18.
tant Germans in the seventeenth cen- quoted in English by Ermarth (Wilhelm 55 Hoy, The Critical Circle, 124-28. Hoy
tury, (2) a general philological meth- Dilthey, p. 250). discusses a "transcendental hermeneu-
odology connected with the classical 37 Wolfflin, Die klassische Kunst, Mu- tics" which he ascribes to Habermas
philologists Friedrich August Wolf and nich, F. Bruckmann, 1901, 2nd ed., p. and Apel, and which Wblfflin's theory
Friedrich Ast, (3) a science of linguistic 226. can be said to resemble. Habermas
understanding developed by Schleier-38 Ermarth, Wilhelm Dilthey, p. 41. repudiates it in Communication and the
macher, (4) the methodological foun-39 Die klassische Kunst, p. 224. Evolution of Society, Boston, Beacon
dation of the Geisteswissenschaften, 40 Ibid., p. 248. Press, 1976, Chapter 1.
which Wilhelm Dilthey introduced in41 Nachlass (III A 69), Letter from Wilf- 56 Hoy, The Critical Circle, p. 118.
the late nineteenth century, (5) the phe- flin to his parents, from Basel, 11 May
nomenology of existence and of exis- 1884. Joan Hart, currently an A.C.L.S. Fellow
tential understanding, originated by 42 Kunstgeschichtliche Grundbegriffe, and Visiting Scholar at Harvard University,
Heidegger in the 1920s and extended Munich, F. Bruckmann, 1929, 7th ed.,is working on a book on Heinrich Wolfflin.
by Hans-Georg Gadamer and Jiirgen p. 248. She received her Ph.D. from the University
Habermas recently, and (6) a system of 43 Logos. Internationale Zeitschrift fiir of California, Berkeley.
interpretation to derive the meaning of Philosophie der Kultur (Tiibingen), IV,
myths and symbols, represented by 1913, pp. 1-7.
Ricoeur. Thus, hermeneutics has had 44 a Kunstgeschichtliche Grundbegriffe, p.
varied history, undergoing a surprising 74.
45 Ibid., p. 12.
transformation from an epistemological,
philological method to an ontology of
46 Hoy, The Critical Circle, p. 64.
Being, in which method is construed as
47 Kunstgeschichtliche Grundbegriffe, pp.
an interpretation like any other. The 244, 249.
problems posed by hermeneutics have 48 Ibid., p. 256. Erwin Panofsky heard or
not been resolved with total agreement, read Wilfflin's Inaugural Address to
300 Art Journal
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