Dilthey Flashcards
(8 cards)
How do natural sciences and human sciences differ in focus?
Natural sciences: Study external, physical world using causality and determinism (e.g., physics, biology).
Human sciences: Study mental/spiritual facts like culture and history through subjective and interpretive methods (e.g., history, psychology).
What is Dilthey’s goal for the human sciences, and how does it relate to Bacon’s work?
Just as Bacon laid the foundations for natural sciences through experiments, Dilthey seeks to establish a philosophical basis for human sciences, viewing humans as both objects (bodies) and co-agents in socio-historical reality.
How does Dilthey critique reductionism in understanding human existence?
He rejects the reductionism of idealists or materialist. Dilthey views humans as psycho-physical units inhabiting both the physical and mental worlds simultaneously.
What is “lived experience,” and what are its two dimensions?
Lived experience is the direct experience of being in the world. Its dimensions are:
Experience of Natural Reality: Deterministic and governed by causal laws (e.g., a tree growing).
Experience of Social-Historical Reality: Purpose-driven, shaped by freedom and values (e.g., writing a book).
What are the internal and external limits of natural science?
Internal limits: There are already limits within the natural sciences. e.eg. Sensory data (e.g., hearing vs. seeing) is inherently incomparable.
External limits: Natural sciences cannot address meaning, purpose, or values, which are central to human sciences.
What does incommensurability mean, and how do natural and human sciences relate?
It refers to the fundamental difference in methods and purposes between the two sciences. They are correlated (e.g., mental life is embodied in the material world) but not reducible to one another.
How do natural and human sciences differ in their approaches to understanding?
Natural sciences: Focus on
- Description (what is happening) : Observing and documenting phenomena
- Explanation (why it happens): Coming up with a model that explains what you see. Understanding the reasons or causes behind these phenomena
Human sciences add a third class:
- Prescription (what ought to be done): addressing values and actions.
The fact that humanities deals with values etc., it limits the scope of the theories. In physics you can do a lot of theorizing about the universe, everywhere and always. Humanities is always tied to a specific place and time.
How can natural sciences and human sciences be complementary despite their differences?
Whatever mental lives we have, it is always embodied.
In the realm of freedom it’s about action guided by purposes. To do so we have to determine what means (material) to use / work with.
Although the two realms are correlated, there is no direct causation between them.
