CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · History & Society

Herman De Dijn

Belgian university teacher

Layered newspapers, civic records and oral-history reels arranged as chronological evidence
History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 12, 2025
Entity authorityQ1849027
Source-derived summary

Herman De Dijn (born 1943) is a Belgian academic philosopher and historian of philosophy with a particular interest in the ethics of Spinoza, known as a public intellectual in both Belgium and the Netherlands.

Life

De Dijn was born in Galmaarden in 1943 and was educated at the Sint-Catharinacollege, Geraardsbergen. He studied at the KU Leuven, graduating Doctor of Philosophy in 1971. After postdoctoral study at the University of Cambridge he was appointed to the Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven, where he was a full professor from 1979 until 2008, when he became professor emeritus. From 1995 to 2000 he was vice-rector of human sciences.

His emphasis on the importance of community and tradition in contrast to individualism has given him the reputation of a conservative thinker.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Herman De Dijn” as belgian university teacher. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Herman, Dijn and Belgian.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1943, 1971, 1979, 2008—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1943-02-06. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Herman, Dijn and Belgian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Herman De Dijn”, the useful work is to connect “belgian university teacher” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 12, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1849027. VIAF identifies the subject as 84447050. The Library of Congress control number is n86009573. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1943, 1971, 1979 and 2008.

Critical limits

Institutional narratives can privilege the records that survived while minimizing voices that were never formally collected. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Herman De Dijn”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Herman De Dijn primary sources, Herman De Dijn archive and Herman research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Herman De Dijn”?
  2. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
  3. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Herman De Dijn” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.