What are the humanities?
Humanities are an extremely wide set of academic disciplines. Humanities can be defined essentially as "anything that is not an empirical science". This includes classics, history, languages, law, literature, theater art, philosophy, religion and visual art. Some disciplines may be considered as part of humanities and sciences: for example, anthropology and linguistics. Most university graduates have a title in one of the humanities.
The quick review of each of the main areas:
Classics is the study of the culture of classical antiquity, especially ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. The classic had a very important place in humanities. The "Renaissance" of the 14th to the 17th century was so called, because it was a revival and assimilation of classical Greek and Roman thoughts that have been lost for centuries. The Renaissance also included ideas and technology from Islamic Golden Age 8 - 13 centuries.
History is, of course, a study of the past, from itEarly writings in the 4th millennium BC to today's history. It may take less than a year for the main event to "dry" and be considered a history. Historical accounts can of course be distorted. The theory of "Great Man", especially popular in the 19th century, was too highlighted by individual contributions to great historical events than to analyze them properly in context.
languages are the basic area of studies in humanities. It was once expected that most educated persons would be bilingual, in particular requiring acquaintance with Latin, but as English became a dominant global language, the importance of studying language in the Western world has been deemphas, but hardly eliminated. The study of language is compulsory for most public schools in the United States.
Administration and study of law, as well as many other humanities, return to dawnhistory. The law consists of rules regulated by society. In modern times, these are often selected democratically through elected representatives. In most countries, the law is so complex that it requires experts - lawyers, legal scientists and judges - to understand in any considerable detail.
representing and visual arts are an extremely ancient area of humanities, which is likely to date up to the dawn of humanity, about 150,000 years ago, not if it is sooner. Most of them are known with art - they are ubiquitous. Films, paintings, dance, accessories and clothing, even interior decorations can be considered as types of art. Creating art producing art can be challenging, but the best artists are often widely honored and financially successful. Many argue that art interpretation is largely subjective, although there is a timeless wide consensus in some areas.
philosophy and religion are two areas of humanities associated with discussions on metaphysics, ethics, EPIstmology (as we know, what do we know?) And logic. Religion tends to address supernatural or divine resources to the answers of these questions, while philosophy comes with a number of alternatives. Philosophies and religions are sometimes contrary, because philosophers often try to answer questions previously under a touch of religion from a secular angle. Of course, a study of religion also includes the culture and history of world religions.