Apel, Karl-Otto - Understanding and Explanation: A Transcendental-Pragmatic Perspective

Johann Gustav Droysen's Grundrisse der Historik appeared in manuscript form in 1858. (It first appeared as a book in 1868.) Here, Droysen writes: "According to the object and nature of human thought there are three possible scientific methods: the speculative (formulated in philosophy and theology), the mathematical or physical, and the historical. Their respective essences are to know, to explain, and to understand."¹