Psychology Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Method: a method is a procedure agreed on by participants of a discussion or research project. In the case of violations of a method, the comparability of the results is in particular questioned, since these no longer come from a set with uniformly defined properties of the elements._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Hermann von Helmholtz on Method - Dictionary of Arguments
Gadamer I 13 Methods/Humanities/Helmholtz/Gadamer: There is no separate method in the humanities. But with Helmholtz, one can ask how much method means here, and whether the other conditions under which the humanities operate are not perhaps much more important for their working methods than inductive logic. Helmholtz had correctly hinted at this when, in order to do justice to the humanities, he emphasised memory and authority and spoke of the psychological tact that takes the place of conscious inference here. On what is such tact based? How is it acquired? In the end, does the scientific nature of the humanities lie more in it than in its methodology? GadamerVsHelmholtz: The answer that Helmholtz and his century gave to this question cannot be enough. They follow Kant by using the concept of science and knowledge oriented on the model of the natural sciences and the distinguishing Gadamer I 14 Search for the specificity of the humanities in the artistic moment (artistic feeling, artistic induction). Yet the image Helmholtz gives of work in the natural sciences may be one-sided enough if he does not think anything of the "quick flashes of inspiration" (i.e. what are called ideas) and only preserves "the iron work of self-conscious reasoning" in them. He refers to John Stuart Mill's testimony that "in recent times the inductive sciences have done more for the advancement of logical methods" "than all philosophers of subject"(1). They are his model of scientific method par excellence. Nevertheless Helmholtz knows that historical knowledge is determined by an experience quite different from that which serves to investigate the laws of nature. He therefore seeks to explain why the inductive method is under different conditions for historical knowledge than for the study of nature. For this purpose he refers to the distinction between nature and freedom, which underlies Kantian philosophy. Historical knowledge is so different because in its field there are no laws of nature, but voluntary subordination to practical laws, i.e. to commandments. GadamerVsHelmholtz: However, this train of thought is not very convincing. Neither does it correspond to Kant's intentions if one bases an inductive exploration of the human world of freedom on his distinction between nature and freedom, nor does it correspond to his own thought of the logic of induction itself. Method/Mill/Gadamer: Mill had been more consistent by methodically excluding the problem of freedom. See >Humanities/Mill. 1. H. Helmholtz, Vorträge und Reden, 4. Aufl. I. Bd., Über das Verhältnis der Naturwissenschaften zur Gesamtheit der Wissenschaften, S. 167 ff._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Helmholtz, Hermann von Gadamer I Hans-Georg Gadamer Wahrheit und Methode. Grundzüge einer philosophischen Hermeneutik 7. durchgesehene Auflage Tübingen 1960/2010 Gadamer II H. G. Gadamer The Relevance of the Beautiful, London 1986 German Edition: Die Aktualität des Schönen: Kunst als Spiel, Symbol und Fest Stuttgart 1977 |
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