Verstehen

E165660

Verstehen is a key concept in the human sciences denoting an interpretive, empathetic understanding of social and historical life from the actor’s own perspective.

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Label Occurrences
Verstehen canonical 1

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf German term
methodological approach
philosophical concept
sociological concept
appliesTo cultural practices
everyday life-world
historical events
religious life
social action
associatedWith Alfred Schutz
Georg Simmel
German idealism
Max Weber
Wilhelm Dilthey
hermeneutic tradition
interpretive sociology
phenomenological sociology
contrastsWith behaviorism in social science
natural-scientific explanation of social life
positivism
coreIdea emphasis on first-person viewpoint of actors
grasping the subjective meaning of action
interpretation of social and historical life
understanding social life from the actor’s own perspective
etymology derived from German verb "verstehen" meaning "to understand"
field anthropology
hermeneutics
history
philosophy of social science
sociology
theology
goal to make sense of social action from within
to reconstruct the subjective meaning structures of actors
hasTranslation understanding
hasType empathetic understanding
interpretive understanding
subjective understanding
language German
relatedConcept empathy
hermeneutic circle
interpretation
intersubjectivity
lifeworld
meaningful action
usedIn historical understanding of motives and meanings
interpretive sociology of Max Weber
qualitative social research

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Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Wilhelm Dilthey notableConcept Verstehen