The University of Chicago HERDER’S CONCEPTION OF “DAS VOLK” A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOLS OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF GERMANICS BY GEORGIANA R. SIMPSON Private Edition, Distributed By THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LIBRARIES CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 1921 Composed and Printed By The University of Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY FRIEND AND TEACHER FRÄULEIN AGNES BURCHARD OF ROSTOCK, GERMANY NOTE I wish to express my sincere thanks to all my Professors, but especially to Professors Starr W. Cutting, Martin Schütze, and Francis A. Wood, under whom the major portion of my work in the Graduate School has been pursued. This particular study, however, is the outcome of interest awakened by Professor Schütze while I was a member of his seminars. I owe a special debt of gratitude to him, not only for his guidance in this endeavor, but for the inspiration and encouragement which has come to me from the very beginning of my work under him. GEORGIANA R. SIMPSON CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. SEMASIOLOGY OF THE WORD, _Volk_—THE IDEA IN OTHER WORDS 1 II. CONCEPTIONS OF _Volk_ AS SEEN IN HERDER’S USE OF THE TERM 4 III. CONCEPTIONS OF _Volk_ AS GATHERED FROM HERDER’S COLLECTION OF _Volkslieder_ 15 IV. CONCEPTIONS OF _Volk_ IN HERDER’S DISCUSSION OF “OSSIAN’S PEOPLE” AND THE ANCIENT HEBREWS 22 V. FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUALITY AND PERSONALITY IN HERDER 31 VI. EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY THOUGHT IN HERDER’S CONCEPTION OF _Das Volk_ 36 VII. CONCLUSION 54 BIBLIOGRAPHY 58 CHAPTER I SEMASIOLOGY OF _VOLK_—THE IDEA IN OTHER WORDS