The Humanities

An acquaintance used the term 'humanities' around me a few times recently. While I have a vague idea what the term encompasses, I could not say with certainty exactly what and I certainly couldn't give a good definition. Typically I nodded and went along with the conversation too embarrassed to admit my ignorance before subtly changing the subject.

So, what exactly are the humanities? According to the oracle of reliability that is Wikipedia they comprise all the academic disciplines which study the human condition using methods which are analytic, critical or speculative as opposed to empirical as employed in science. Traditionally these fields are:

1. Classics
In the West 'classics' refers to the cultures of classical antiquity. This is the period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea beginning with the Greek poetry of Homer (8th-7th BCE) through to the rise of Christianity and the decline of the Roman Empire (5th AD). It is followed by the Early Middle Ages (500-1100) which saw the dissolution of classical culture. More broadly it refers to the foundational writings of the earliest major cultures of the world, including, e.g. Lao-Tse in China.

2. History
Straightforward enough. History covers the interpretation and study of the records of humans, families and societies. Apparently in modern academia, it is increasingly classified as a social science, especially when chronology is the focus. Social sciences are disciplines that study human aspects of the world empirically, such as geography, economics, education, political science, psychology.

3. Languages and literature
The study of language is different from linguistics which takes a scientific approach to language and includes things like phonology and syntax. Literature covers the use of language in prose, poetry and drama. Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater rhythmic variety and closer resemblance to everyday speech.

4. Law
Law straddles the boundry of the humanties and social sciences. Which camp it falls into depends on one's point of view. Law is defined as a 'system of rules' to achieve justice, as an 'authority' to mediate peoples' interests, and even as 'the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of sanction'.

5. Performing Arts
The performing artist uses his or her own body, face, presence as a medium. This is different from the plastic arts, a subdivision of the visual arts, in which the artist uses materials such as clay to produce an art object. Performing arts include: acrobatics, comedy, dance, magic, music, opera, film, theatre, juggling, marching arts, busking.

6. Philosophy
From the Greek 'love of wisdom'. It questions life, existence and human reasoning. The world's oldest subject of study which branched and evolved into separate disciplines over time, including physics in the 16th century and psychology in the 19th.

7. Religion
Straightforward again. Just to add that apparently most historians trace the beginnings of religion to the neolithic period when people generally worshipped a Mother Goddess, Sky Father, the Sun or the Moon. In the 6th Century Hinduism and Buddhism arose in India and Zorastrianism in Persia. In the East Taoism, Legalism and Confucianism arose. Abrahamic religions are those derived from the ancient Semitic tradition which go back to Abraham (1900 BCE), these are Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

8. Visual Arts
This one is pretty obvious really. It includes drawing and painting, photography, printmaking, filmmaking and also sculpture and achitecture which are called the 'plastic arts'.