Hermeneutics and the Study of History

In the preface we have already described our general procedures in revising translations for this edition. Coherence in the use of terminology has been our aim throughout, but when Dilthey uses terms nontechnically we have allowed the context to determine the best English equivalent. Thus, while we normally translate Erlebnis as “lived experience, ” when Dilthey uses it together with other adjectives such as “personal, ” we tend to drop the “lived” to avoid awkwardness. Brief notes about some of our most important terminological decisions have been provided where such terms first occur.

Words and phrases added by the editors of Dilthey's Gesammelte Schriften have been placed in <>; those added by the editors of Selected Works in [ ].

The titles of works not already translated into English have been left in German. Otherwise, only the English title is used. When figures and works that are now no longer so well known are mentioned by Dilthey, we have provided brief annotations. But because they are not repeated, the index should be consulted for the first mention of names.

Dilthey's own footnotes will have a (D) at the end. Those added by the Herausgeber or editors of the Gesammelte Schriften will have an (H) at the end. Our own footnotes will be unmarked. In cases where the authorship of footnotes was not clear from the printed text in GS XIV, we were able to consult Dilthey's original manuscript (see Introduction).

Concerning the Clavis Scripturae Sacrae of Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Dilthey refers to the Basel edition of 1580. Martin Redeker, the German editor, was unable to obtain access to this edition and refers instead to the 1628–29 edition. The editors had access to neither of these, but were able to consult the 1674 Jena edition through the cooperation of Professor Lutz Geldsetzer. In order to avoid confusion about the different pagination in each of these editions, we have generally used Dilthey's page references. Only where Dilthey's references are missing have we inserted Redeker's references to the later edition—these are marked with an (H). According to Professor Geldsetzer, who has compared the early editions of the Clavis, there are no deviations in content, but only in pagination.

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