Understanding, Understanding Oneself, Self-Understanding. Hermeneutic Considerations Proceeding from Wilhelm Dilthey

Wilhelm Dilthey defines the specific nature of understanding utilizing two aspects: on the one hand, understanding is a comprehension of connections, typically regarding the relation between a whole and its parts. Understanding captures the meaning of something according to this relation: We understand an episode from its function within a story a text from its words and sentences. On the other hand, understanding consists of understanding something as an expres- sion. We understand cultural and historical facts as objectifications of individual and social life. The triad life-expression-understanding forms the structural frame- work of hermeneutics. Eventually, understanding implies self-understanding. Therefore autobiographg for Dilthey, is the paradigm ofunderstanding.