Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / July 04, 2021
By Cecilia Bembibre, in Jun. 2009
We understand by Humanities all those disciplines that study the behavior, condition and performance of the human being, as opposed to the Natural Sciences that base their study on the analysis of nature and the phenomena related to her. The Humanities, also known as social Sciences, are interested in the study of elements related to culture, religion, art, communication and history.
In this sense, one of the main differences between the Natural Sciences and those designated as Humanities is that while the former have clearly defined and logical types of analysis, study, verification and reformulation, the different objects of study of the Humanities can never be limited to empirical or stimulus-effect analysis since the variations are not usually so easily delimitable and understandable. This is why the Humanities are characterized by having speculative, critical and debate analyzes of the phenomena that interest them. The Humanities do not establish irrevocable laws or postulates, but rather propose the analysis of their objects of study from variable and debatable positions.
The word Humanities comes from Latin, humanitas, which makes clear reference to the human being (and all his achievements) as the focus of study. Throughout history, the Humanities have always been developed and deepened by different scholars and thinkers who sought to understand the behavior and condition of man outside the facts empirically delimitable.
Among the sciences considered Humanities we must mention mainly the Literature, to languages (both ancient and modern), to History, Economy, Art in its various forms (Plastic, Music, Dance, etc.), Linguistics, Theology, Philosophy, the Semiotics and Semiology, Philology, Anthropology, the Sociology, cultural studies in general, Communication and Psychology among many others. Each of these sciences has numerous theories and postulates that have varied over time and that are part of the set of methods developed by man to understand himself, his behavior, his achievements and his condition.
Topics in Humanities