Definition of Sciences of the Spirit

From the point of view of knowledge, since it emerged with force experimental science, there has been a great dichotomy between practical and theoretical knowledge, that is, between science and letters. The fundamental difference between the sciences of the spirit and the sciences of nature is that the object of study is different and, therefore, the method used for the investigation it is also different.

The natural sciences study observable and measurable phenomena that can respond to universal laws. However, the sciences of the spirit are those that allow a human being to know himself better by studying what makes him unique.

The value of the conscience it is a clear example of how reality cannot be constantly interpreted in mathematical terms.

Life study

Dilthey is one of the thinkers who deepened in the sciences of the spirit as a projection of life itself. Dilthey is one of the most important philosophers in history. He was born on November 19, 1833 in Germany. From his point of view, life is a

manifestation of own philosophy. In a way, and saving the differences, the sciences of the spirit are in relation to the value of the psychology currently accessing the interior of the subject to understand its essence.

In turn, he affirms that the understanding of human existence cannot be simplified to the enumeration of some intellectual representations. From this point of view, Dilthey, as a defender of the sciences of the spirit, clearly opposes Kant's intellectualism in his Critique of Pure Reason.

The separation of the sciences of nature and of the spirit does not imply establishing a greater importance of one over the other but to apply the appropriate method to each field of study without distorting Its essence. The sciences of the spirit are the human sciences through which this philosopher wants to base the analysis of the historical course and the entity of society.

Pursuit of happiness

Dilthey wants to vindicate the value of this form of knowledge in the face of increasingly powerful experimental science. The thought of Dilthey is very topical in our time if we consider how the machine and the technology have been displacing man from his own vital center.

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