Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study the theoretical and methodological basis of the science of the spirit, which has been used from the 19th century to the present day. First of all, attention is focused on various concepts of epistemology and the etymological meaning of epistemology is given and its development in the history of philosophy is analyzed. An in-depth analysis of the methods of the science of the spirit that arose in the context of a new epistemological revolution is given.

This article is aimed at a systematic review and study of the contribution of such researchers and philosophical direction of the science of the spirit as W. Dilthey, the school of hermeneutics E. Husserl, M. Heidegger, G. Gadamer, as well as the modern representative C. Skinner. The article deals with the methods of science "Geist" proposed by V. Dilthey, where the methods of the science of the spirit and its influence on the methods of modern science are analyzed. Dilthey divided science into two parts: spiritual and natural. The movement, which began under the motto of the science of the spirit, subsequently led to the emergence of research methods and trends in the humanities and social sciences, such as hermeneutics, phenomenology, historicism, relativism, psychology, structuralism, and constructivism.

Key words: epistemology, the science of the spirit, natural sciences, classification, positivism, logical positivism, hermeneutics, interpretation, philosophy of history.