WINDELBAND, WILHELM. - Philosopher and historian of philosophy, b. at Potsdam on 8 May 1848, d. at Heidelberg on 22 Oct. 1915. He studied at Jena, Berlin, Göttingen, in the school of K. Fischer and H. Lotze (v.). He taught philosophy at Leipzig (1873), Zurich (1876), Freiburg (1882), Strasbourg (1882) and Heidelberg (1903).
W.'s work unfolds first of all on the plane of the history of philosophy, with notable contributions, chiefly for the criteria that inform it. In it he caused to prevail, alongside attentive and well-informed historical research, a rigorous scientific method that enabled him to insert the history of philosophy into philosophy and into the history of culture. This is better understood if one bears in mind that W. belongs to the "philosophy of values" (v.), one of the principal expressions of neo-Kantianism.
Among the principal works of history of philosophy are: Die Gesch. d. neueren Philos. in ihrem Zusammenhange mit der allgem. Kultur u. den besond. Wissenschaften (2 vols., Leipzig 1878; 7th ed. 1922; Italian trans. by A. Oberdorfer, 3 vols., Florence 1925), one of the most exhaustive investigations of modern philosophical thought, from the Renaissance to early positivism. More significant in a certain respect is the Lehrbuch der Gesch. d. Philos. (1891; 12th ed. completed by E. Rothackers, Tübingen-Leipzig 1928; Italian trans. by C. Dentice D'Accadia from the 13th German ed., Palermo 1938; 14th ed. edited by H. Heimsoeth, Tübingen-Leipzig 1950), which is a history of the problems and fundamental expressions of philosophical thought, and therefore of more directly theoretical interest. Mention should also be made of Platon (7th ed., Stuttgart 1900; Italian trans. by M. Graziussi, Palermo 1914). Of the contributions to philosophical research the best known is Präludien, Aufsätze u. Reden zur Einleitung in die Philos. (2 vols., Freiburg 1884; 9th ed. 1924; Italian trans. by G. Arrighi, Milan 1947).
W. holds philosophy to be the science of "values" which are the fruit of spiritual activity and at the same time constitute its
ANCIENT UNPUBLISHED MONUMENTS
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GIOVANNI WINCKELMANN
PREFETTO DELLE ANTICHITA DI ROMA
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WINCKELMANN, JOHANN JOACHIM - Title page of the Monumenti antichi inediti spiegati e illustrati by G. W., I, Rome 1767, with an engraving by the author reproducing a terracotta bas-relief from the Albani collection, with the building of the ship of the Argonauts - Copy from the Vatican Library.
necessary presuppositions. Among values, those of logic, aesthetics and ethics have a pre-eminent significance, as they manifest themselves both in the life of the individual and in the process of culture. It is possible to find a synthesis of such values and a transcendent expression of them in the religious consciousness, to which W. devotes particular attention (cf. the essay Il divino, Italian ed. of the Preludi, pp. 200-27). It has been said that the position of the philosophy of values represents a meeting of the Kantian attitude with Goethe's attitude, and this is most particularly evident in the effort toward a critical foundation of human values such as is achieved by W. The historical sciences acquire particular prominence in relation to natural science; since the historical sciences form part of the human sciences, they are as such sciences of values par excellence and therefore norms of thought and action, of culture and of life.
Bibliography6 works
Luigi Pelloux