Abstract

With the development of historical consciousness since the 18th century, plans of Begriffsgeschichte have grown up. Observing the constant change of philosophical systems, it turned out that exact definitions of terms were indeed less usefull than explaining their meaning and significance within their specific historical context. It is now common to have lexicons of Begriffsgeschichte nearly in all realms of scholarship. They all try to clarify the various and changing languages, by which the world - culture and nature - is interpreted. Very much inspired by hermeneutics, Begriffsgeschichte can be pursued with different aims, and in the humanities, this form of history has specific purposes depending on the subjects. But analogous to classical philosophy of history we find interdisciplinarian tendencies in that intellectual history. While its importance is widely acknowledged, the definition and understanding of Begriffsgeschichte are often vary controversial – which is not surprising since the German word is difficult to translate. But its feature can be drawn by distinguishing it from other forms of history, such as history of matters or subjects, of ideas, problems, words, or exact terms. In opposition to those forms of history, it is the accent on language and the connection between different aspects which are typical of Begriffsgeschichte