The problem of knowledge of history in Wilhelm Dilthey's philosophy

Dilthey's Critique of Historical Reason is the result of a profound analysis of metaphysical concepts from the Antiquity to the end of the 19th century. In this period, historical science did not exist from a methodological point of view. It was heavily influenced by philosophy or natural sciences. Dilthey's negative attitude towards philosophy of history is predetermined by his anti-metaphysical position. According to Dilthey, the search of the essence of historical science beyond its limits is not allowed. Therefore, the historian must occupy the position of a scientist, in whose interests there are only facts that are subject to impassive study. Human culture, in Dilthey's view, deserves the status of an object of an independent scientific study no less than nature because it possesses its specific properties that do not lend itself to the tools of natural sciences, in the application of which a proper result is obtained. History as a science has its advantages and drawbacks because of the subject and the object of the research that coincide in it. Self-awareness is the ability that allows us to successfully penetrate into the human world and create the most complete picture of humankind. We ourselves create sources of history, which become a "text". Scientists will be able to extract a part of the whole studied area and build it into a scientific knowledge in the future. However, it is impossible to finish the "history book". It needs to be studied within certain boundaries. It is possible to investigate the states or ages chosen for this, or one can accept the fact that it is an ongoing project that has certain regularities that cannot be predicted. For Dilthey, the existence of humankind takes an eternity, which is an area subordinate to history.

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