Humanities Tennessee

The term "humanities" includes, but is not limited to, the study and interpretation of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism, and theory of the arts; those aspects of the social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.

Humans are symbol-making animals. Most of their physiological processes they share with other forms of life, but the speaking of words and drawing of pictures are uniquely theirs. Study of the products of language and art is, therefore, study of the quality that distinguishes beings as human. The term "humanism" began to be used in the Renaissance in contradistinction to "theism," to describe the study of uniquely human achievements. Throughout the Middle Ages, theologians had argued that the uniquely human characteristic was the possession of a soul, so the study of the quality that distinguished beings as human was theology. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, scholars rediscovered in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Cicero, and other classical writers that there were subjects and methods for studying human achievements that were more relevant and sophisticated than medieval scholasticism. So for three hundred years, "humanism" meant the study of the moral and aesthetic qualities of classical writings in all fields of endeavor — philosophy, law, medicine, history, drama, poetry.

Until the end of the nineteenth century study of this classical humanism was considered the best possible preparation for any sort of executive or administrative career in government, the church, or private business. During the nineteenth century the techniques for studying classical literature were transferred to the vernacular literatures — English, French, German, etc. — and new disciplines emerged devoted to certain limited aspects of the humanities — sociology, political science, linguistics, etc. To the extent that these disciplines treat technical data in which human beings are regarded only as part of a universal continuum, they may fall outside of what has been normally regarded as the humanities, but much of what is now thought of as the province of the social sciences, and even the impact on human behavior of the pure sciences, is the classic concern of the humanities.

One final comment. The concept of "humanitarianism" is even more recent than "humanism." It dates largely for the eighteenth century when philosophers began to argue that the behavior of individual human beings is less the result of their own nature than of their environment and education. This led to movements of prison reform, slum clearance, popular education, and legal control of wages and working conditions. Since these developments were based upon the notion that human beings have fundamental human rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," they were dubbed "humanitarian." Since the classical humanities are likewise concerned with the unique characteristics of humanity, there has been for over a century a growing confusion — or fusion — of the terms "humanism" and "humanitarianism." Perhaps the best solution today is to apply the term "humanism" to the academic study of human culture, and "humanitarianism" to practical efforts to improve the lives that people live.