The humanities encompass a wide range of academic disciplines. “Anything that isn’t an empirical science” is how the humanities are defined. Classics, history, languages, law, literature, performing arts, philosophy, religion, and the visual arts are all included. Anthropology and linguistics, for example, are disciplines that can be classified as both humanities and sciences. The majority of college graduates have a humanities degree.
A quick rundown of each of the major categories:
Classics is the study of classical antiquity’s culture, particularly that of Ancient Greece and Rome. The classics have always held a significant place in the humanities. The 14th through 17th centuries were known as the “Renaissance” because they saw the revival and assimilation of classical Greek and Roman ideas that had been lost for centuries. The Renaissance drew on ideas and technologies from the Islamic Golden Age, which lasted from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries.
Of course, history is the study of the past, from the earliest writings in the 4th millennium BC to contemporary history. A major event’s “ink” may dry in less than a year and the event will be considered history. Historical accounts, of course, may be skewed. The contributions of single individuals to major historical events were overemphasized in “great man” theories of history, which were especially popular in the nineteenth century, rather than properly analyzing them in context.
In the humanities, languages are a fundamental field of study. Most educated people were once expected to be bilingual, with a knowledge of Latin in particular, but as English has become the dominant global language, the importance of language study in the Western world has been diminished, but not eliminated. In most public schools in the United States, for example, learning a language is required.
Law administration and study, like many other humanities, dates back to the beginning of time. The rules that govern a society are known as law. These are frequently chosen democratically by elected representatives in modern times. In most countries, the law is so complicated that only specialists — lawyers, legal scholars, and judges — can fully comprehend it.
The performing and visual arts are a very old branch of the humanities, dating back at least to the dawn of humanity, roughly 150,000 years ago. The arts are familiar to almost everyone; they are everywhere. Films, paintings, dance, accessories and clothing, and even interior décor are all examples of art. Making a living as an artist can be difficult, but the best artists are frequently well-liked and financially successful. Many people believe that art interpretation is largely subjective, even though there is clearly widespread agreement in some areas.
Philosophy and religion are humanities disciplines that deal with metaphysics, ethics, epistemology (how do we know what we know? ), and logic. Religion tends to look for answers to these questions in supernatural or divine sources, whereas philosophy offers a variety of options. Philosophy and religion are frequently at odds, as philosophers attempt to answer questions previously addressed by religion from a secular perspective. Of course, studying religion entails learning about the cultures and histories of various religions around the world.