Karl Lachmann

This paper aims to define the intellectual and scientific profile of Karl
Lachmann, his evolution before inventing his « method », his relation to the preceding
classical philology (Heyne) and to the contemporary philology (Hermann),
his position on « the Homeric question ». It describes the role of Lachmann in the
emergence of German philology and depicts how this discipline turned out to
become a special German institution, shaped by the model of science of antiquity.
The scholars tried to create a scientific community based on methodology. The
philologist who relied on the power of the method could avoid scientific dilettantism
and amateurism, which occurred often in the circles of Romanticism. Lachmann’s
method had not only a scientific but also an ethical meaning and
presupposed a rigorous way of life. A master of the method had to be revered
because of his scientific achievement.