Nomothetic and idiographic

The epistemological distinction between nomothetic and idiographic research goes back to the speech, " history and science " Wilhelm diaper bands, the 1894 kept the commencement of his rectorate at the University of Strasbourg this.

Diaper band initially differed mathematics and philosophy as a rational science of the empirical sciences. The latter he shared then again in the nomothetic natural sciences and the idiographic humanities.

Heinrich Rickert has pointed out that even with idiographic approach - as in the nomothetic -. Needs to be abstracted ) Rickert speaks ( therefore ) of individualizing and generalizing method. Those aims to identify the culturally important individuality of something (which must be abstracted from many culturally irrelevant aspects of the qualitative individuality ), this fact, something to be subsumed under general concepts or laws, with all that goes unnoticed, which is not relevant for this subsumption.

In the middle between the two is the psychology, the quantitative and qualitative inter-and intra-individual differences explored to find objective laws that can be applied to individuals. After diaper tape psychology studied humanities content by scientific methods. The discussion of this distinction was introduced by Gordon Allport (1937 ) in personality psychology.

The legal philosophy Max Ernst Mayer diaper bands accepts distinction in what is over and what once was.

As an example of Kantian ethics can be categorical imperative for the nomothetic thinking, Sartre's argument against "Shall I take care of my sick mother or join the Resistance? " For the idiographic.

Wilhelm Kamlah understood as empirical Partikularaussagen idiographic, nomothetic as empirical generalizations and criticized diaper bands separating obsolete. It has been shown ( " The Jupiter ...") that make the science of history -statements ( " The Greek colony ups ... "), even the natural sciences Partikularaussagen.