Das Individuum Und Sein Jahrhundert

The study is designed as a contribution a) to the theory underlying the history of ideas and concepts, b) to the analysis of the term Bildung, and c) to research on Goethe. Taking its bearings from the ideas of Luhmann and Koselleck, it proposes a new concept, that of historico-semantic componential analysis, allowing the reconstruction of the connections between the term in question and other contemporary concepts, and a historical definition of the place occupied by Bildung in the triad formed by meaning, function and problem-reference. Central to the examination of the term Bildung exemplifying the procedure proposed is a discussion of Goethe's autobiographical "Dichtung und Wahrheit," a text that in the 19th and 20th centuries has enjoyed the status of an exemplary portrayal of an individual's progress towards and attainment of Bildung.