In contrast to the widespread tendency to separate Dilthey's early psychological writings from his later hermeneutical and historical writings, the present study seeks to show their essential continuity. Only by holding together these fundamental aspects of Dilthey's thought can the fruitfulness of his concepts and the overarching coherence of his approach be assessed. In this, conviction, Makkreel advocates the centrality of Dilthey's aesthetic writings and examines their philosophical implications-many of them Kantian-for his theory of history.