Dilthey, Wilhelm (1833–1911)

German philosopher, a major figure in the interpretive tradition of hermeneutics. He argued that the ‘human sciences’ (Geisteswissenschaften) could not employ the same methods as the natural sciences but must use the procedure of ‘understanding’ (Verstehen) to grasp the inner life of an alien culture or past historical period. Thus Dilthey extended the significance of hermeneutics far beyond the interpretation of texts to the whole of human history and culture.