Introduction to Humanities

Prepared By: Prof. Leire Cherryl D. Jacutan

Humanities
Epistemology :

humanus
(human, refined, cultured)
Refined - Norms, being civilize, and socialize
Cultured - Adaptation to environment
(social interaction, norms)
Human - Having the nature of people, being a person

Humanities
Based on Humanistic view that stresses the
dictum of Protagoras:
Man Is The Measure Of All Things.

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

Humanities
What
do I
want?

Why am I
doing this?

Who am I?

To whom
do I exist?

What am I
made of?

Whats the
point of
living?

Humanities
The 7 Longings of a Human Heart
Enjoyment
Fascination
Beauty
Greatness
Intimacy
Wholeheartedness
Lasting Impact

Humanities
Through the humanities we reflect on the
fundamental question: what does it mean to be
human? The humanities offer clues but never a
complete answer. They reveal how people have
tried to make moral, spiritual, and intellectual
sense of a world in which irrationality, despair,
loneliness, and death are as conspicuous as
birth, friendship, hope and reason.
(Report of the Commission on the Humanities)

Humanities

Relationship
They are studies of human attempts to
understand our relationship to ourselves,
to others, to our past, to the future, to
nature, and to God.

Humanities
Values
They are those studies that are directly
concerned with human values.
(Value - importance, significance)

Humanities
Humanities Vs. Science

Humanities covers a broad area of human

creativity but are distinct from mathematics
and the hard sciences.

The separation between the humanities and

the sciences is illustrated in the way values
work differently in the two areas.

Humanities VS Sciences
Unlike the sciences, which are expressed
through numbers and symbols, human
values can be perceived, felt, and
expressed in subtle and enduring ways.

The humanists say, what we need is a

study that will get us closer to
ourselves.

Why Study Humanities?

Knowledge and skills alone cannot lead
humanity to a happy and dignified life.
Humanity has every reason to place the
proclaimers of high moral standards and values
above the discoverers of objective truth. What
humanity owes to personalities like Buddha,
Moses, and Jesus ranks for me higher than all
the achievements of the inquiring and
constructive mind.

Why Study Humanities?

Through Humanities, we can be connected to
places we have not visited, understand the
past or history which has significance to the
present. It makes us encounter great minds
and hearts of human history.
Through Humanities, we will be studying what
humans have found valuable or good
throughout the time.

Why Study Humanities?

Through Humanities, we increase our
respect for cultural and individual
differences through a knowledge of
achievements and of world civilization.
Through Humanities, we gain a global
perspective through the knowledge of
world cultures

Why Study Humanities?

Through Humanities, we will be able to
build up your career, focus our life,
minimize frustration, and most importantly,
be able to work as part of an effective
team.

The Arts

AESTHETI
CS

Religion and
Deity
THEOLOG
Y

PHILOSOPH
Y

Humanities

Communication
and means of
communication

LANGUAG
E

HISTORICA
L AND
SOCIOCULTURAL
STUDIES

the study of
ideas about
knowledge,
truth, the
nature and
meaning of
life

Culture,
Sociology and
History