ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I explore the relevance of hermeneutics for the study of history. I reconstruct the shifts and continuities in the concept of understanding (Verstehen) from the late 18th to the early 20th century, focusing on the hermeneutic contributions of four authors: Herder, Schleiermacher, Droysen, and Dilthey. I identify the philosophical presuppositions that made it plausible to conceptualize “understanding” as a fundamental epistemological problem that arises not just for the interpretation of texts but also when it comes to understanding other people and the socio-cultural world. On the basis of my historical reconstruction, I seek to arrive at an assessment of the disagreement between Dilthey and Gadamer. In particular, should hermeneutics be conceived as an epistemological or an ontological programme? I argue that while Gadamer is right to point out that Dilthey leaves the inherent historicity of interpretation under-accounted for, this verdict does not hold for the entire epistemological tradition in hermeneutics. In particular, the critique does not apply to Herder and Droysen. I conclude that the investigation into the interpreter’s historicity and situatedness, and the question as to whether this situatedness is an enabling condition or a constraint for historical knowledge, remains a central concern, but that it can be adequately addressed within the epistemological programme in hermeneutics.
