⊿ Point. {R} Glossary. ◢ Keyword: N. ◥ University. {q} PhD. {tr} Training. ⚫ UK. ↂ EndNote. ☝️ Weerakkody. Nomothetic and idiographic. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Philosophical terms used by Windelband Nomothetic and idiographic are terms used by Neo-Kantian philosopher Wilhelm Windelband to describe two distinct approaches to knowledge, each one corresponding to a different intellectual tendency, and each one corresponding to a different branch of academia. To say that Windelband supported that last dichotomy is a consequent misunderstanding of his own thought. For him, any branch of science and any discipline can be handled by both methods as they offer two integrating points of view.[1] Use in the social sciences[edit] The problem of whether to use nomothetic or idiographic approaches is most sharply felt in the social sciences, whose subject are unique individuals (idiographic perspective), but who have certain general properties or behave according to general rules (nomothetic perspective).
See also[edit] Nomological References[edit] Further reading[edit] Cone, J.