Historical Development of Humanities

1
Historical Development of Humanities
2
What is humanities?

• A group of extensive disciplines (such as arts,
  art criticism, literature, film studies,
  photography, music, history, and philosophy).

3

• The humanities is generally considered to
  include the study of classics, art history and
  literature.
• OEDs definition of humanities humanities did
  not appear until 1702 and it is referred to the
  activity of the humanist

4

• Our definition
• An institutional tool to gain knowledge that
  concerns human this knowledge is a rather
  forceful ideology that has different connotations
  in different historical eras shaped by various
  forces yet has the same attempt to humanize man,
  to make man more man.

5
History of humanities

• Medieval
• In the medieval
• (12th and 13th
• century), humanities
• meant primarily
• philosophy and
• theology.
• Theology was the
• most prestigious
• area of study.

6

• The late Middle Ages
• Heresies aroused
• (Beginning of skepticism-
• dissatisfaction with church
• as an institution).
• The starting point of
• humanism (Protagoras
• "man is the measure of
• all things).

7

• Renaissance
• Humanities in this period included disciplines
  that would make mans life richer and more
  meaningful the languages and literature of
  Greece and Rome, fine arts, music, philosophy.

8

• Renaissance man (universal man) acquire all
  knowledge and all the skills of the various arts.
  (These arts are those that are unrecognized by
  the church.)

9

• Universal Man (polymath) excels in multiple
  fields, particularly in both arts and sciences
• Leonardo Da Vinci archetype of the Renaissance
  man
• Desiderius Erasmus

10

• Baldassare Castiglione,
• in his The Book of the
• Courtier (1528), wrote a
• guide to being a polymath,
• describing what makes a
• well rounded person.

11

• 16th century
• By 1535, humanities, which is the study of
  literae humaniores (greats), became the head of
  the arts.

12

• 19th century
• Humanities is the key to the history, the
  thoughts, and the mind of civilized man.

13

• Recent years
• There is a wave of neglect of the humanities
  (after the Industrial Revolution, the competition
  between countries is focused on technology).

14
Where does New Humanities come from?

• Historical trend new academic disciplines are
  rising because of new social realties are in place

15
New Humanities

• The field has become richly theoretically
  pluralist and increasingly interdisciplinary.
• What are these larger contexts? Who produces
  them? Who has access to them? How are they
  circulated? How can they be interpreted? Where
  are they located? What values do they espouse?