Wilhelm Dilthey on the possibility of analyzing historical processes through autobiographies

The importance of studying autobiographies in the context of the study of historical reality was justified in the concept of the German scholar Wilhelm Dilthey. Biognosis of W. Dilthey's life and writings is represented in the scientific literature, but there is little recourse to autobiographical writing for the analysis and understanding of historical being. The purpose of the study is to determine the possibility of explaining historical processes through the study of texts of autobiographical narratives. As an expression of spiritual life in a historical context, the article clarifies the role of analyzing the autobiography texts. The scientific novelty of the article results from the complex analysis of Dilthey's “understanding hermeneutics”. Consequently, the method of understanding and interpreting historical reality through autobiographical writing is proved to be both conceivable and indispensable in the modern spiritual sciences.