Weltanschauung

The German word _Weltanschauung_ is often translated into English most simply as "worldview". There are nuances that might be lost with that translation.

The [entry in Oxford Lexico of the UK Dictionary](https://web.archive.org/web/20220808013938/https://www.lexico.com/definition/Weltanschauung) appears as: > **NOUN** ( plural noun **Weltanschauungen** /ˈvɛltˌanʃaʊ(ə)n/ ) > A particular philosophy or view of life; the world view of an individual or group. > _‘Nevertheless, public opinion supports the view that Nazism and Bolshevism are philosophies - Weltanschauungen implacably opposed to each other.’_

On the [English lnaguage StackExchange, RegDwight](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/109867) describes the difference between "Weltanschauung" and "worldview": > _Weltanschauung_ is used as an English word, from the German because the English _worldview_ is too vague and not comprehensive enough. (For _anschauen_ = to look at, rather with the meaning "to take a good look at", for _schau_ = to show, display, as opposed to _blicken_ = to look, or _aussehen_ from _sehen_ = to see). > Primarily it means a way a person looks at the phenomenon of life as a whole. Some people (particularly those who have not lived very long) have not formed any broad (inclusive, even "sophisticated") view of life. Others consider a large number of factors before forming their overall view — maybe in their seventies — of the phenomenon of human existence. Typically a person's Weltanschauung (as an English word we drop the capital letter required of all German nouns) would include a person's philosophic, moral, and religious conclusions — including e.g. the duality of spirit and matter — and perhaps their conclusions about the origins of the universe and of the development of life. They would also have conclusions about the state, society, politics and economic activity. I suggest def. "A person's conclusions about existence (however tentative) at a particular time of life, after taking a good look at everything they have come across about". What do the German philologists say about my amateur offering?

* Further down [on the same page, HaL](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/17915) provides a link to a page on "A Philological History of Worldview" from _Worldview: The History of a Concept_ by [David K. Naugle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Naugle) (2003) [on Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=qBzjfDMpvBIC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=cognitive+philosophy+Weltanschauung&source=bl&ots=FzNMncrYmQ&sig=uWf_QjK-d45Ffc6GK-0Pe68ssTo&hl=en&ei=VtGMTceoE8TytgfbiN28DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=cognitive%20philosophy%20Weltanschauung&f=false) . This was based on a 1998 dissertation from U. Texas Arlington.

In the [German language StackExchange, Tom Au](https://german.stackexchange.com/a/1885) differentiates between Weltanschauung and Ideology. > A literal translation of Weltanschauung is "world view." It is the prism ("spectacles" if you will) through which one views the world. > Ideologie refers to one's BELIEFS/ATTIUDES about the world. It stems from Weltanchauung, and is shaped by it, but is not the same. That is, Weltanshauung underpins Ideologie. One is cause, the other is effect. > For instance, a Weltanschauung might be, "the world is a dangerous place." The resulting Ideologie might be, "We need a strong national defense," or "we need more police."

Ties between American pragmatism and the Vienna Circle play in the Weltanschauung Rejection in British Analytic Philosophy