The Path to Spiritual Science: A Study of Dilthey's Philosophical Thought

Author: Xie Dikun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-30
Features: Western civilization in the 19th century, after the stormy Enlightenment and bourgeois democratic revolution, entered a rapidly developing era. Not only did science and technology advance by leaps and bounds, but also a myriad of new ideas emerged, surging endlessly, weaving a grand yet intricate landscape. Such an era was undoubtedly one of brilliant minds and shining stars. Alongside a host of outstanding politicians, military leaders, and scientists, it also produced a succession of epoch-making thinkers. Among them were Marx and Engels, who pioneered entirely new ideologies, as well as Freud and Weber, who dominated psychology and sociology. There were also Mill and James, who championed empiricism and utilitarianism, and Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, who rebelled against tradition and were fiercely independent. Of course, the renowned thinkers of the time were far more than those mentioned here. However, both in the West and the East, people often forgot a figure indispensable to intellectual gatherings—a philosopher known as "the most important thinker of the second half of the 19th century" and the "Newton of the humanities" [2]: Wilhelm Dilthey, a German philosopher.
Dilthey was born in 1833 and died in 1911. He spent over 40 years in academia, dedicating his life to the study of philosophy, history, psychology, and related disciplines. He was erudite, widely interested, diligent in exploration, and prolific in writing. His major works include An Attempt at a Critique of Moral Consciousness, Life of Schleiermacher, Studies in the Historical Development of the Science of Man, Society, and the State, Introduction to the Science of Spirit, The Possibility of General Pedagogy, Thoughts on the Description and Analysis of Psychology, The Origin of Hermeneutics, History of Young Hegel, Foundations of the Science of Spirit, Experience and Poetry, The Nature of Philosophy, The Construction of the Historical World in the Science of Spirit, Drafts for a Critique of Historical Reason, Types of Worldview and Their Composition in Metaphysical Systems, and others. From the titles of these works, we can see that Dilthey's research spanned a vast range of fields, including philosophy, ethics, psychology, sociology, pedagogy, and the history of thought, nearly encompassing all prevailing trends of the time and forming a "creative synthesis."
Dilthey's research served as a bridge between past and future, inheriting the tradition of German rationalist philosophy while absorbing and innovating upon the content of other disciplines. He forged a unique path, establishing his own school of thought and exerting a profound influence on the development of philosophy, psychology, and sociology in the 20th century. From a philosophical perspective, several important schools of modern Western philosophy, such as Jaspers' psychopathology, Husserl's phenomenology, Heidegger's existentialism, and Gadamer's hermeneutics, bear the imprint of Dilthey's thought. In sociology, figures like Weber and Mannheim were also influenced by him. After World War II, Dilthey's philosophy gained renewed attention, and a group of German scholars began to compile and publish his works, engaging in new research and exploration. From the late 1950s and early 1960s, his works were gradually translated into English, and Dilthey's ideas began to acquire global significance. Starting in the 1970s, it was widely recognized that understanding modern Western philosophy without Dilthey would be difficult to explain the internal logic and developmental process of its transition from the modern to the contemporary era.
Of course, in the 1950s and early 1960s, some scholars in Eastern Europe, such as Lukács, also categorized Dilthey's philosophy as irrationalism, criticizing him as an agent of imperialism. This was driven by political biases rather than academic rigor. However, without a deep study of Dilthey's works, it is difficult to classify him into any specific philosophical school. This was a feature of the era and a reflection of Dilthey's own character. After the peak of rationalist philosophy in Hegel, anti-traditional and irrationalist currents had already been brewing. In the late 19th century, new discoveries and developments in science and technology further propelled intellectual and theoretical progress, giving rise to an abundance of new ideas and a vibrant scene of intellectual debate. Schools of thought such as empiricism, neo-Kantianism, and neo-Romanticism each held their own views, engaging in heated debates. Meanwhile, irrationalist philosophy, represented by Nietzsche, advocated abandoning reason and civilization, returning to instincts, and liberating life from the constraints of civilization, striving for complete emancipation. This movement quickly gained fame and influence.
Facing these diverse and complex trends, every philosopher had to provide clear answers. Dilthey was a philosopher concerned with reality and practical fields, rejecting the traditional dichotomy of either rejecting revelation or entering Plato's ideal kingdom. At the same time, he was a philosopher who thought independently and refused to follow blindly. He upheld philosophical tradition without adhering rigidly to conventions, sought to revolutionize methodology while avoiding fads. On one hand, he firmly believed that philosophy should offer theoretical guidance and value judgments for individuals and society, thereby extending to behavioral norms. On the other hand, he doubted whether reason could penetrate the ultimate structure of existence. On one hand, he rejected the prevailing irrationalism of the time, but on the other hand, he questioned whether reason could deduce moral laws. Based on such philosophical, he adopted a balanced approach toward the various philosophical schools of the time, neither blindly following nor outright rejecting them. He fiercely criticized empiricism and positivism but deeply respected the empirical nature of science, emphasizing the "scientificity" of philosophy. He declared himself a "member of the Kantian movement," calling for philosophy to return to Kant from Hegel, Schelling, and Fichte, but he did not fully endorse Kant's transcendental philosophy. Instead, he sought to establish a "new rational critique" and engaged in prolonged debates with Windelband and Rickert of the neo-Kantian school. He inherited and developed the idealist tradition of German classical philosophy but strongly opposed Fichte's system of knowledge and Hegel's dialectical philosophy of history. His "critique of historical reason" differed greatly from Hegel's philosophy of history. All this demonstrates that while upholding the rationalist tradition of philosophy, Dilthey adopted an open attitude, embracing various influences and integrating them. At the same time, he engaged in independent reflection, resisting external pressures, and emphasized the "internal critique," critically revising the systems he absorbed to forge his own path with a cautious critical spirit.
Dilthey's intellectual explorations were arduous, almost exhausting. His major works, Life of Schleiermacher and Introduction to the Science of Spirit, were published only in the first volumes, earning him the playful title of the "half-volume philosopher." This was not because he failed to continue his writing plans or due to external reasons, but rather because of the inherent contradictions in his philosophical transformation. He was, after all, in the transitional period from traditional to modern philosophy, engaged in a quest for intellectual exploration, aiming to carve out a new realm for philosophy and other humanities. Such a monumental task posed immense challenges for any philosopher or thinker.
The multifaceted and complex nature of Dilthey's philosophy contains many creative and enlightening ideas, which had a positive impact on both contemporary and later philosophical circles. However, at the same time, it also made it difficult to provide a comprehensive and accurate evaluation of his philosophical thought. His theories and ideas have been interpreted and judged in various ways, labeled with different isms, some even contradictory. Therefore, a systematic introduction to Dilthey's thought, an objective assessment of his role and significance in Western philosophy, and an analysis of his influence on modern Western philosophy are the goals this book aims to achieve.
Of course, with this limited space, we cannot provide a detailed and thorough introduction and analysis of Dilthey. This book will focus on his science of spirit, his innovations in epistemology and methodology, and his influence on Western philosophy, particularly continental philosophy. As for his theories on literature, art, pedagogy, and the history of thought, this book does not delve into them. To address this shortcoming and to provide readers with a more comprehensive understanding, an appendix has been added at the end of the main text, introducing his life, works, and contributions in other areas. This is far from sufficient, and we hope to further refine it in the future.