Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (6): 153-180.

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Understanding Based on Lived Experience: Dilthey's Concept of Verstehen Revisited from the Perspective of Sociological Methodology

MA Zhiqian   

  • Published:2023-12-19
  • Supported by:
    This paper was sponsored by the Youth Project of the National Social Sciences Fund of China(23CSH096).

Abstract: This paper investigates how Dilthey's concept of Verstehen deals with the problems of inter-subjectivity from the perspective of sociological methodology. For Dilthey, everything in our daily life carries and conveys a certain spiritual meaning-what he called objective spirit. Neither self nor others are isolated or enclosed in themselves, but are nexus formed in participation in these common spiritual contents in the external world. Therefore, Dilthey argued that understanding others is not just by speculating others' motives, but also constructing an objective spiritual system. It is closely related to the understanding of oneself as the two are based on the lived experience-expression-understanding nexus, meaning understanding the lived experience through its expression in the world. On this basis, this paper further discusses the difference between Dilthey and Weber. In the face of the conflict between life and science, Weber followed the path of Rickert's Kuturwissenschaften, keeping a distance from the reality of life in order to maintain the objective validity of science. Thus, Weber's concept of Verstehen adopts an ideal-type approach with rational rules as the core. Dilthey also believed that the grasp of life experience was fraught with difficulties, however, it does not mean there should be an absolute distinction between scientific concepts and reality of life. For him, Geisteswissenschaften need to be rebuilt based on life. Dilthey attempted to apply the concept of lived experience with originality and completeness to break down the binary opposition between self and others, internal and external, and to restore the connection between the understanding of oneself and others, of individuals and greater spiritual nexus.

Key words: lived experience, Verstehen, life-nexus, human sciences, sociological methodology