Humanities

==Fields==

===Classics===
{{Main|Classics}}
[[File:Homeros Caetani Louvre Ma440 n2.jpg|thumb|Bust of [[Homer]], the most famous Greek poet]]
[[Classics]], in the [[Western culture|Western]] academic tradition, refers to the studies of the cultures of [[classical antiquity]], namely Ancient Greek and Latin and the Ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] cultures. Classical studies is considered one of the cornerstones of the humanities; however, its popularity declined during the 20th century. Nevertheless, the influence of classical ideas on many humanities disciplines, such as philosophy and literature, remains strong.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Macey |first=David |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/38271/the-penguin-dictionary-of-critical-theory-by-david-macey/9780140513691 |title=The Penguin Dictionary of Critical Theory |date=2004-12-02 |language=en}}</ref>

===History===
{{Main|History}}
[[History]] is systematically collected [[information]] about the [[past]]. When used as the name of a [[field of study]], ''history'' refers to the study and interpretation of the record of [[human]]s, [[society|societies]], institutions, and any topic that has changed over time.

Traditionally, the study of history has been considered a part of the humanities. In modern [[academia]], history can occasionally be classified as a [[social science]], though this definition is contested.

===Language===
{{Main|Linguistics|Language}}
While the scientific study of language is known as [[linguistics]] and is generally considered a [[social science]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://artsandscience.usask.ca/arts-science/socialsciences.php |title=Social Science Majors, University of Saskatchewan |access-date=2016-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906113657/http://artsandscience.usask.ca/arts-science/socialsciences.php |archive-date=2015-09-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> a [[natural science]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dingo.sbs.arizona.edu/~massimo/publications/PDF/BoeckxMPPLingReview2005.pdf|title=Language as a Natural Object; Linguistics as a Natural Science|last=Boeckx|first=Cedric|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723173105/http://dingo.sbs.arizona.edu/~massimo/publications/PDF/BoeckxMPPLingReview2005.pdf|archive-date=2010-07-23|url-status=dead}}</ref> or a [[cognitive science]],<ref name="stanford1">Thagard, Paul, [http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/cognitive-science/ Cognitive Science] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715135221/http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/cognitive-science/ |date=2018-07-15 }}, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).</ref> the study of languages is also central to the humanities. A good deal of twentieth- and twenty-first-century philosophy has been devoted to the analysis of language and to the question of whether, as [[Wittgenstein]] claimed, many of our philosophical confusions derive from the vocabulary we use; literary theory has explored the rhetorical, associative, and ordering features of language; and historical linguists have studied the development of languages across time. Literature, covering a variety of uses of language including [[prose]] forms (such as the [[novel]]), [[poetry]] and [[drama]], also lies at the heart of the modern humanities curriculum. College-level programs in a [[foreign language]] usually include study of important works of the literature in that language, as well as the language itself.

===Law===
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 058 - Old Bailey edited.jpg|thumb|right|A trial at a criminal court, the [[Old Bailey]] in [[London]]]]{{Main|Law}} In everyday language, [[law]] refers to a rule that is enforced by a governing institution, as opposed to a moral or ethical rule that is not subject to formal enforcement.<ref>{{cite book|title=Crimes Against Humanity|first=Geoffrey| last=Robertson| author-link=Geoffrey Robertson|year=2006| publisher=Penguin|page=90| isbn=978-0-14-102463-9}}</ref> The study of law can be seen as either a [[social science]] or a humanities discipline, depending on one's perspective. Some see it as a social science because of its objective and measurable nature, while others view it as a humanities discipline because of its focus on values and interpretation. Law is not always enforceable, especially in the international relations context. Law has been defined in various ways, such as "a system of rules",<ref name=":1" /> "an interpretive concept" for achieving justice,<ref name=":2" /> "an authority" to mediate between people's interests,<ref name=":3" />or "the command of a sovereign" backed by the threat of punishment.<ref name=":4" />

However one likes to think of law, it is a completely central social institution. Legal policy is shaped by the practical application of ideas from many social science and humanities disciplines, including philosophy, history, political science, economics, anthropology, and sociology. Law is [[politics]], because politicians create them. Law is [[philosophy]], because moral and ethical persuasions shape their ideas. Law tells many of [[history]]'s stories, because statutes, case law and codifications build up over time. Law is also economics, because any rule about [[contract]], [[tort]], [[property law]], [[labour law]], [[company law]] and many more can have long-lasting effects on how productivity is organised and the distribution of wealth. The noun ''law'' derives from the [[Old English language|Old English]] ''word lagu'', meaning something laid down or fixed,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=law&searchmode=none |title=Etymonline Dictionary |access-date=2007-08-14 |archive-date=2017-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702150018/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=law&searchmode=none |url-status=live }}</ref> and the adjective ''legal'' comes from the Latin word ''LEX''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/legal |title=Merriam-Webster's Dictionary |access-date=2007-08-14 |archive-date=2007-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230025618/http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/legal |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Literature===
{{main|Literature}}
[[File:First Folio.jpg|thumb|[[Shakespeare]] wrote some of the most acclaimed works in [[English literature]].]] '''Literature''' is a term that does not have a universally accepted definition, but which has variably included all written work; writing that possesses literary merit; and language that emphasizes its own literary features, as opposed to [[ordinary language]]. [[Etymology|Etymologically]] the term derives from the [[Latin]] word literatura''/litteratura'' which means "writing formed with letters", although some definitions include [[Oral literature|spoken or sung texts]]. Literature can be classified as [[fiction]] or [[non-fiction]]; [[poetry]] or [[prose]]. It can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the [[novel]], [[short story]] or [[drama]]; and works are often categorised according to historical periods, or according to their adherence to certain [[Aesthetics|aesthetic]] features or expectations ([[genre]]).

===Philosophy===
{{Main|Philosophy}}
[[File:Kierkegaard.jpg|thumb|The works of [[Søren Kierkegaard]] overlap into many fields of the humanities, such as philosophy, literature, theology, music, and classical studies.]]
Philosophy—etymologically, the "love of wisdom"—is generally the study of problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, justification, truth, justice, right and wrong, beauty, validity, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these issues by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned argument, rather than experiments ([[experimental philosophy]] being an exception).<ref name=":3">Thomas Nagel (1987). ''What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy''. Oxford University Press, pp. 4–5.</ref>

Philosophy used to be a very comprehensive term, including what have subsequently become separate disciplines, such as [[physics]]. (As [[Immanuel Kant]] noted, "Ancient Greek philosophy was divided into three sciences: physics, ethics, and logic.")<ref name=":4">Kant, Immanuel (1785). ''Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals'', the first line.</ref> Today, the main fields of philosophy are [[logic]], [[ethics]], [[metaphysics]], and [[epistemology]]. Still, it continues to overlap with other disciplines. The field of [[semantics]], for example, brings philosophy into contact with [[linguistics]].

Since the early twentieth century, philosophy in English-speaking [[universities]] has moved away from the humanities and closer to the [[Outline of formal science|formal sciences]], becoming much more ''analytic.'' [[Analytic philosophy]] is marked by emphasis on the use of logic and formal methods of reasoning, conceptual analysis, and the use of [[symbolic logic|symbolic]] and/or [[mathematical logic]], as contrasted with the [[Continental philosophy|Continental style of philosophy]].<ref>See, e.g., Brian Leiter [https://web.archive.org/web/20061115002425/http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/analytic.asp] "'Analytic' philosophy today names a style of doing philosophy, not a philosophical program or a set of substantive views. Analytic philosophers, crudely speaking, aim for argumentative clarity and precision; draw freely on the tools of logic; and often identify, professionally and intellectually, more closely with the sciences and mathematics than with the humanities."</ref> This method of inquiry is largely indebted to the work of philosophers such as [[Gottlob Frege]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[G.E. Moore]] and [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]].

===Religion===
<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Beckford |first1=James A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vA8edg7bv0kC&dq=religion+and+sociology+SAGE+publications&pg=PR5 |title=The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Religion |last2=Demerath |first2=Jay |date=2007-10-29 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-1-4462-0652-2 |language=en}}</ref>
''[[Religious Studies]]'' is commonly regarded as a [[social science]]. Based on current knowledge, it seems that all known cultures, both in the past and present, have some form of belief system or religious practice. While there may be isolated individuals or groups who do not practice any form of religion, it is not known if there has ever been a society that was entirely devoid of religious belief. The definition of religion is not universal, and different cultures may have different ideas about what constitutes religion. Religion may be characterized with a '''community''' since humans are [[The Social Animal (Aronson book)|social animals]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Aristotle|title=Politica|publisher=Oxford|year=1941|location=New York|pages=1253a}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Berger|first=Peter|title=The Sacred Canopy|publisher=Doubleday and Company|year=1969|isbn=978-0385073059|location=New York|pages=7}}</ref> '''[[Ritual]]s''' are used to bound the community together.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stephenson|first=Barry|title=Rituals|publisher=Oxford|year=2015|isbn=978-0199943524|location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bell|first=Catherine|title=Ritual|publisher=Oxford|year=2009|isbn=978-0199735105|location=New York}}</ref> Social animals require rules. '''[[Ethics]]''' is a requirement of society, but not a requirement of religion. Shinto, Daoism, and other folk or natural religions do not have ethical codes. While some religions do include the concept of deities, others do not. Therefore, the supernatural does not necessarily require the existence of deities. Rather, it can be broadly defined as any phenomena that cannot be explained by science or reason.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hood|first=Bruce|title=The Science of Superstition|publisher=HarperOne|year=2010|isbn=978-0061452659|location=New York|pages=xii}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bowie |first=Fiona |title=The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction |date=2000-02-29 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-0-631-20848-8 |location=Malden, Mass. |language=English}}</ref> '''[[Magical thinking]]''' creates explanations not available for empirical verification. '''Stories''' or [[myth]]s are narratives being both didactic and entertaining.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Segal|first=Robert|title=Myth|publisher=Oxford|year=2015|isbn=978-0198724704|location=New York|pages=3}}</ref> They are necessary for understanding the human predicament. Some other possible characteristics of religion are pollutions and purification,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Douglas|first=Mary|title=Purity and Danger|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=978-0415289955|location=London and New York}}</ref> the sacred and the profane,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Eliade|first=Mircea|title=The Sacred and the Profane|publisher=Harvest|year=1959|location=New York}}</ref> sacred texts,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Coward|first=Harold|title=Sacred Word and Sacred Text|publisher=Orbis Books|year=1988|isbn=978-0883446041|location=Maryknoll, NY}}</ref> religious institutions and organizations,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Berger|first=Peter|title=The Sacred Canopy|publisher=Anchor|year=1990|isbn=978-0385073059|location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=McGuire|first=Meredith|title=Religion: The Social Context|publisher=Wadsworth|year=2002|isbn=0-534-54126-7|location=Belmont, CA}}</ref> and sacrifice and prayer. Some of the major problems that religions confront, and attempts to answer are chaos, suffering, evil,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kelly|first=Joseph|title=The Problem of Evil in the Western Tradition|publisher=Liturgical Press|year=1989|isbn=0-8146-5104-6|location=Collegeville, Minnesota}}</ref> and death.<ref>{{Citation|last=Becker|first=Ernest|title=The denial of death|date=2009|pages=ix|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0029023105}}</ref>

The non-founder religions are [[Hinduism]], [[Shinto]], and [[Ethnic religion|native or folk religions]]. Founder religions are [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], [[Islam]], [[Confucianism]], [[Taoism|Daoism]], [[Mormonism]], [[Jainism]], [[Zoroastrianism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Sikhism]], and the [[Baháʼí Faith]]. Religions must adapt and change through the generations because they must remain relevant to the adherents. When traditional religions fail to address new concerns, then new religions will emerge.

===Performing arts===
{{Main|Performing arts}}
The [[performing art]]s differ from the [[visual arts]] in that the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal, or paint, which can be molded or transformed to create some [[work of art|art object]]. Performing arts include [[acrobatics]], [[busking]], [[comedy]], [[dance]], [[film]], [[magic (illusion)|magic]], [[music]], [[opera]], [[juggling]], [[marching arts]], such as [[brass band]]s, and [[theatre]].

Artists who participate in these arts in front of an audience are called performers, including actors, [[comedian]]s, [[dancer]]s, [[musician]]s, and [[singer]]s. Performing arts are also supported by workers in related fields, such as [[songwriting]] and [[stagecraft]]. Performers often adapt their [[physical appearance|appearance]], such as with [[costume]]s and [[cosmetics|stage makeup]], etc. There is also a specialized form of [[fine art]] in which the artists ''perform'' their work live to an audience. This is called [[Performance art]]. Most performance art also involves some form of plastic art, perhaps in the creation of [[Theatrical property|props]]. Dance was often referred to as a ''plastic art'' during the [[Modern dance]] era.

====Musicology ====
[[File:Mozarteum grosser saal buehne mit orchester.jpg|thumb|Concert in the Mozarteum, Salzburg]]
[[Musicology]] as an academic discipline can take a number of different paths, including [[historical musicology]], music literature, [[ethnomusicology]] and [[music theory]]. Undergraduate music majors generally take courses in all of these areas, while graduate students focus on a particular path. In the [[liberal arts]] tradition, musicology is also used to broaden skills of non-musicians by teaching skills such as concentration and listening.

====Theatre====
[[Theatre]] (or theater) (Greek "theatron", ''θέατρον'') is the branch of the [[performing arts]] concerned with [[acting]] out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed any one or more elements of the other performing arts. In addition to the standard narrative dialogue style, theatre takes such forms as [[opera]], [[ballet]], [[mime artist|mime]], [[kabuki]], [[classical Indian dance]], [[Chinese opera]], [[mummers' play]]s, and [[pantomime]].

====Dance====
Dance (from [[Old French]] ''dancier'', perhaps from [[Old Frankish language|Frankish]]) generally refers to human [[Motion (physics)|movement]] either used as a form of [[Emotional expression|expression]] or presented in a [[Social environment|social]], [[spirituality|spiritual]] or [[performance]] setting. Dance is also used to describe methods of [[non-verbal communication]] (see [[body language]]) between humans or [[animal]]s ([[Waggle dance|bee dance]], mating dance), and [[Motion (physics)|motion]] in inanimate objects (''the [[leaves]] danced in the [[wind]]''). [[Choreography]] is the process of creating dances, and the people who create choreography are known as choreographers. Choreographers use movement, [[music]], and other elements to create expressive and artistic dances. They may work alone or with other artists to create new works, and their work can be presented in a variety of settings, from small dance studios to large theaters.

Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on [[Society|social]], [[Culture|cultural]], [[aesthetic]], [[artistic]], and [[moral]] constraints and range from functional movement (such as [[Folk dance]]) to codified, [[virtuoso]] techniques such as [[ballet]].

===Visual art===
====History of visual arts====
[[File:Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain.jpg|thumbnail|''Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain'' by [[Emperor Gaozong of Song China|Emperor Gaozong]] (1107–1187) of [[Song dynasty]]; fan mounted as album leaf on silk, four columns in cursive script.]]
The great traditions in [[art]] have a foundation in the art of one of the ancient civilizations, such as [[Ancient Japan]], [[Ancient Greece|Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], [[China]], [[Indus Valley civilisation|India]], [[Greater Nepal]], [[Mesopotamia]] and [[Mesoamerica]].

Ancient Greek art saw a veneration of the human physical form and the development of equivalent skills to show musculature, poise, beauty and anatomically correct proportions. [[Roman Empire|Ancient Roman]] art depicted gods as idealized humans, shown with characteristic distinguishing features (e.g., [[Zeus]]' thunderbolt).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Janson |first1=Horst Woldemar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMYHuvhWBH4C |title=History of Art: The Western Tradition |last2=Janson |first2=Anthony F. |date=2004 |publisher=Prentice Hall Professional |isbn=978-0-13-182895-7 |language=en}}</ref>

The emphasis on spiritual and religious themes in [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] and [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic]] art of the Middle Ages reflected the dominance of the church. However, in the [[Renaissance]], a renewed focus on the physical world was reflected in art forms that depicted the human body and landscape in a more naturalistic and three-dimensional way.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Janson |first1=Horst Woldemar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMYHuvhWBH4C |title=History of Art: The Western Tradition |last2=Janson |first2=Anthony F. |date=2004 |publisher=Prentice Hall Professional |isbn=978-0-13-182895-7 |language=en}}</ref>

Eastern art has generally worked in a style akin to Western medieval art, namely a concentration on surface patterning and local colour (meaning the plain colour of an object, such as basic red for a red robe, rather than the modulations of that colour brought about by light, shade and reflection). A characteristic of this style is that the local colour is often defined by an outline (a contemporary equivalent is the cartoon). This is evident in, for example, the art of India, Tibet and Japan.

Religious [[Islam]]ic art forbids iconography, and expresses religious ideas through geometry instead.<ref>{{Citation |last=Ali |first=Nadia |title=The royal veil: early Islamic figural art and the Bilderverbot reconsidered |date=2020-05-21 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429341588-6 |work=Exploring Aniconism |pages=70–89 |access-date=2023-10-19 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9780429341588-6 |isbn=978-0-429-34158-8}}</ref>The physical and rational certainties depicted by the 19th-century Enlightenment were shattered not only by new discoveries of relativity by [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]]<ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1035752,00.html
|title=Does time fly?
|work = The Guardian|access-date=2008-05-01
|last=Turney
|first=Jon
| location=London
| date=2003-09-06
}}
</ref> and of unseen psychology by [[Sigmund Freud|Freud]],<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook36.html
|title=Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Darwin, Freud, Einstein, Dada
|publisher=www.fordham.edu
|access-date=2008-05-01
}}
</ref> but also by unprecedented technological development. Increasing [[globalization|global]] interaction during this time saw an equivalent influence of other cultures into Western art.

====Media types====

=====Drawing=====
[[Drawing]] is a means of making a [[image|picture]], using a wide variety of tools and techniques. It generally involves making marks on a surface by applying pressure from a tool, or moving a tool across a surface. Common tools are graphite [[pencil]]s, [[pen and ink]], [[ink]]ed [[brush]]es, wax [[color pencil]]s, [[crayon]]s, [[charcoal]]s, [[pastel]]s, and [[marker pen|markers]]. Digital tools that simulate the effects of these are also used. The main techniques used in drawing are: line drawing, [[hatching]], crosshatching, random hatching, scribbling, [[stippling]], and blending. A computer aided designer who excels in [[technical drawing]] is referred to as a ''draftsman'' or ''draughtsman''.

=====Painting=====
[[File:Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|thumbnail|''[[Mona Lisa]]'', by Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most recognizable artistic paintings in the world.]]
Literally, [[painting]] is the practice of applying [[pigment]] suspended in a carrier (or [[Paint#Components|medium]]) and a binding agent (a [[adhesive|glue]]) to a surface (support) such as [[paper]], [[canvas]] or a wall. However, when used in an artistic sense, it means the use of this activity in combination with [[drawing]], [[composition (visual arts)|composition]] and other aesthetic considerations in order to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the practitioner. Painting has been used throughout history to express spiritual and religious ideas, from mythological scenes on pottery to the frescoes of the [[Sistine Chapel]], to body art.

Colour is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but elsewhere white may be. Some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists, including [[Goethe]], [[Wassily Kandinsky|Kandinsky]], [[Isaac Newton]], have written their own [[colour theory|colour theories]]. Moreover, the use of language is only a generalization for a colour equivalent. The word "[[red]]", for example, can cover a wide range of variations on the pure red of the spectrum. Unlike music, where notes such as C or C# are universally accepted, there is no formalized register of colors. However, the [[Pantone 448 C|Pantone]] system is widely used in the printing and design industry to standardize color reproduction.

Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, for example, [[collage]]. This began with [[cubism]] and is not painting in strict sense. Some modern painters incorporate different materials such as [[sand]], [[cement]], [[straw]] or [[wood]] for their texture. Examples of these are the works of [[Jean Dubuffet]] or [[Anselm Kiefer]]. Modern and contemporary art has moved away from the historic value of craft in favour of [[concept]] ([[conceptual art]]); this has led some e.g. [[Joseph Kosuth]] to say that painting, as a serious art form, is dead, although this has not deterred the majority of artists from continuing to practise it either as whole or part of their work.

[[Sculpture]] involves creating three-dimensional forms out of various materials. These typically include malleable substances like clay and metal but may also extend to material that is cut or shaved down to the desired form, like stone and wood.