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Old talk
- "The humanities are the classics (as derived from classical antiquity) and liberal arts; those subjects supposedly taught for their social and intellectual merit, rather than for pragmatic use."
I think the statement above is ignorant bigotry. Obviously, although many areas of mathematics have great pragmatic utility, others are studied primarily for their intellectual merit and esthetic beauty, and yet they are not humanities. Humanities are fields that study humans, human life, and human societies. To imply that it is only in fields studying humans, human life, and human societies that one finds "intellectual merit" is bigotry. Michael Hardy 21:48, 27 Oct 2003 (UTC)
Better to change the definition than flag it as disputed. Be bold in editing. DJ Clayworth 22:06, 27 Oct 2003 (UTC)
- By all means go ahead and add something useful to this stub. However, the only you refer to in your statement cannot be deduced from the text of the article. --KF 22:07, 27 Oct 2003 (UTC)
The statement doesn't appear to make sense unless "only" was intended. Another problem is that the statement would seem to imply the implausible proposition that the study of humans lacks pragmatic utility. I'd have gone ahead and boldly edited if I hadn't been pressed for time when I wrote these comments. Michael Hardy 00:00, 28 Oct 2003 (UTC)
If humanities are a "study of the human condition", does psychology qualify? If not, is the definition perhaps flawed in that it is too broad? --OldakQuill 22:16, 22 Mar 2004 (UTC)
- "I stand upon a notch between Two Eternities." -thoreau-
The Humanities are based in (not on) the Human Condition. In that context, psychology certainly applies, but only if it is practiced Hippocratically and explained in Common Language. The same goes for Mathematics. The dividing lines are between Good and Evil and The Ancestry of Humanity and its Posterity.
Humanitarianism is Practical Humanity guided by enlightenment from the study of the Human Condition in the broadest possible context and an earnest desire to improve it (see altruism). The Humanities have given the Human Race a Continuum through which to pupetuate this process. : Quinobi
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