The distinction between experience and lived experience has its roots in the difference between the German words Erfahrung and Erlebnis, which preoccupied a number of thinkers in the nineteenth century. Erfahrung referred to experiences that could be shared, as when people witnessed chemistry experiments in different laboratories. Erlebnis (which incorporates the word Leben, or “life”), by contrast, meant the subjective perception of experiences, which might not necessarily be shareable.
