Category: General & Miscellaneous >>> A Note on General Academic Categories

In academic studies, one discovers three broad categories under which most subjects fall: the Natural Sciences (Physics, Geology, Astronomy, etc.), the Social Sciences (Cultural Anthropology, Psychology, etc.) and the Humanities (Philosophy, the Arts, etc.). Like all categorical systems, this one is not as tidy as the rational mind wishes it could be. For example, many scientists resent having an imprecise pursuit such as Psychology termed a science. As another example, a number of pursuits seem to cross boundaries: mathematics belongs to both natural science and philosophy, history borrows characteristics from both the social sciences and the humanities, as does religion.
Such complexities do not invalidate the overall schema since numerous subjects really do share a common kind of interest. The natural sciences generally look "away from" human beings, and interest themselves with what is "out there,” what can be perceived by the senses and measured.
The humanities share a common interest in the opposite direction, exploring the symbolic products of mankind’s "inward” life. The rhythms, sounds, moods and combinations in music, for example, are all recognized as sensible manifestations of man’s essential, inward dynamics. In visual art or literature, the form is different, but the undercurrents - the "ghosts" which are being "released" (in the words of John Ciardi) - are of the same kind. Likewise, even philosophy shares this quality, for each philosophy is a creative expression of the inner life which bore it.
But it is not only individuals that express themselves. Every social group and civilization has its own distinctive zeitgeist - a dynamic, shared mind set. The "spirit of an age" for a social group is analogous to the psyche of the individual, and this inner life also expresses itself artistically and philosophically. The product is known as Culture. Language is a prime example. Thus the Humanities account for both the individual and social symbolic manifestations of inner life.
My field of studies has been literature primarily, probably because I am a highly verbal person. I enjoy listening to good music, but the music that nourishes me the most is the implicit, understated melodies and rhythms of poetry. I enjoy an occasional walk through the art gallery, or observing the beauty of nature, but the images which most affect me are those that come to my own mind as I read good fiction. In the same way, I have my moods in which philosophical endeavor gives its rewards. But western philosophy seems very seldom to cross the boundaries of the rational mind; and I am acutely aware that most of what makes me who I am lies beneath the surface of rational consciousness. Great literature is often able to take me "down" or “in” there in an experience that is both fruitful and exhilarating.
My greatest interest is to penetrate whatever barriers separate my perceptive apparatus from this deep, inner world of the human psyche. That is the crux of my personal interest in the humanities. I envision a secret room of some sort, a room that contains truths and experiences which make all conventional existence seem lifeless in comparison. And each segment of the humanities is a small window that looks into a portion of that room. For me, literature is the window that seems most worth lingering attention.

California State Dominguez Hills
Humanities External Degree Program - M.A.
4/13/93
Copyright © 1993 Donald L. McIntyre All Rights Reserved