The method of understanding and the problem of objectivity in Dilthey

Dilthey marks a pivotal moment in the development of the Human Sciences to establish their own independent foundation. Prior to his period of research, the historical-spiritual world had been the subject of research in accordance with the scientific tools provided by the Natural Sciences. With Dilthey's work, the Human Sciences gained their own unique methodology and the scientific tools that emerged within this method. The central issue, in this context, becomes addressing the question: Is objectivity possible in the method of understanding when studying the human world? Throughout the study, the methodological question has been examined and discussed within the framework of the Human Sciences, aiming to uncover the legitimate basis of the method of comprehension/understanding. For Dilthey, the method of comprehension is conceived as a means of understanding both the historical world and the individual human beings living within it. In this regard, comprehension is concerned with both individual human beings and the objective spirit that arises independently from individual lives within the historical process. Therefore, when individuals are involved, comprehension is linked to the objective understanding of their expressed states of inner experience, and when referring to the objective spirit, it is associated with understanding of the inherent aims and intentions in it. In this respect, understanding establishes its objective foundation in the objectification of experiential states through their expression. One of the highest forms of objective spirit is "language". Language, fixed in written works and demanding a hermeneutic interpretive act, necessitates that the model of understanding be hermeneutic. Consequently, as Dilthey asserted, the scientific formulation of the human sciences employs understanding as the method, hermeneutics as the model, and art as the tool. In conclusion, the possibility of objectivity arises from the comprehension of experiences through language, artistic works, or the objective spirit manifested in the historical world.