What are the Humanities??

The easy answer:

The humanities are those academic disciplines that study the expressions of human beings that explore and reveal what it means to be human.

Simple enough. The disciplines usually included are literature and theories of literature and writing, language studies, the studies of all the traditional art forms (music, painting, sculpture, dance, poetry, etc.), philosophy, religion, and cultural history (history is often included in the social sciences depending on the focus and methodologies of the research).

On second glance, the easy definition gets complex. What do we mean by "what it means to be human"? Again, a simple answer would be to leap to the life sciences and to social science and describe characteristics like upright posture, stereoscopic vision (two eyes on the same plane of the face so that we see in "stereo," so to speak), large brain size, and the opposable thumb (that is, we can grab things, along with other primates).

However, the humanities explore beyond the physical attributes; they probe such intangibles as purpose, meaning, judgment-all adding up to the capacity for self-reflection, abstract thought, and creativity.

Somehow, when we explore "what it means to be human," we want more than neat categories and perfect definition. Embedded in the very concept of self-reflection is mystery. There is something about us that we can't quite put a finger on that defies clear labels, yet challenges us to the attempt.

Underlying our thought is the assumption of a human nature, a sense of an essence that identifies us as a species.

Think about how we use the term "human nature": it's human nature to do it's just human nature... you fill in the blanks. My guess is that in most cases, the term implies something negative that pulls us down from what we are capable of being or becoming. Or, we might say of a person that he or she is wonderfully human, meaning something very good, but imperfect-comfortably so. Somehow, perfection is not always desirable. Most of us can't live up to it. Of course, even having the idea of perfection and imperfection is a hallmark of "being human."

Mixed in at the very core of us seems to be a tension. In some philosophies, we are basically bad (morally) yet seem to be called to be better, and so we wrestle against the evil nature toward the good; the evil is on the inside. In other philosophies, we are viewed as basically good but living in an evil world that we must resist; the evil is outside of us, yet deeply compelling. In yet other ways of looking at things, we have good and evil both inside, and each wars against the other. Amid all this tension there seems to be an "I," someone who is there that looks out of our eyes that we identify with as our selves. Freud's "ego"? Maybe.

Whatever the essential nature of this tension, there emerges a concept of "the human condition."

It usually involves a disconnect between what we are and what we can be. Thus arise issues of freedom-am I self-determining, or am I fated? Of course, it's not that simple-that's what makes it an issue. The answer seems to be both yes and no. We might ask then, why bother with thinking about it? For awhile, that might satisfy the individual until that person faces some profound personal dilemma in which the question burns in the heart and mind.

A number of such tensions arise when we examine our human experience. In literature and philosophy, we call these tensions the universal questions. They are universal in that people in every time and place seem to have dealt with them. These universal issues are recognized as issues, or questions, because human expressions across time and space grapple with them both explicitly and implicitly. We seem to need to probe and we seem to need to communicate to others our struggle.

The traditional universal conflicts may be expressed in the following ways:

Eternal Questions	Eternal Conflicts
Who am I? What is the nature of the self? What does it mean to be a self and to act as a self?	Individual versus the self Inner conflicts
What is my relationship to other people-i.e. what are my responsibilities and obligations?	Individual versus others Individual versus society Social conflicts; love issues; social responsibilities and obligations
What is my relationship to my environment? --to nature? --to the human-made environment? Am I a part of it? Over it? Subject to it?	Individual versus nature Individual versus manmade environment Individual versus technology
What is my relationship to God? To the Spiritual world?	Individual versus God Spiritual conflicts
Is there meaning to life? Where and how can I find or create meaning?	Meaning versus meaninglessness

Perhaps as you looked over the chart, you might have reactions or questions about the categories and the phrasing. For instance, in our culture of the last part of the last century, we have openly raised questions about the existence of a personal God as described in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Most of us in the United States have varying understandings of environmentalism (as in studies of Earth), human psyche (as described by psychology and counseling), desirable relationships between individuals, and a whole host of similar issues.

Your possible reactions might point the way to your discovery of the similarities and differences between peoples across time and place. Certain conflicts remain familiar; their interpretation, expression, and resolution may challenge your thinking.

We who deal in the humanities in thought and practice find our minds constantly stretched by what we discover to be universal and particular. We find ourselves continually growing in our understanding of self and each other as we each struggle to resolve the tensions only to discover that we are challenged to do it again and again.

Before going on, think about what the most important issues are and have been in your life. In what ways are they particular to you? In what ways might they be "universal"?

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