Good Critical Thinking On Defining Humanities

When I first heard of the term “humanities”, I initially thought it is simply about humans and how they live with other people and nothing more. I thought it was the study of culture and how people interact with one another in a way that would foster respect and appreciation of another’s culture. However, after discussions about the true meaning of humanities, I realized that it is about people, culture, and more. Humanities is the study of people from various time periods and in all parts of the world, including academic disciplines such as literature, religion, philosophy, arts, and the natural sciences, among others.
Humanities encompass the various civilizations of the past that make up the societies that we have now. It studies the meanings, ethics, and ideals of people’s endeavors in analyzing the surroundings and the interactions of people with other people, including their reactions to events occurring around them. It requires that people view humanities with a critical eye in order to fully understand the context of events that transpired in the past as they are related to the present. It also necessitates that people learn to interpret the meanings of language, philosophy, and religion and use those meanings in understanding the past and the present, including the changes happening around us and the environment. By doing so, we get an opportunity to experience and connect with the past in order to gain appreciation of the civilizations that came before us. At the same time, it gives us the chance to compare and contrast history as we attempt to make a connection between the past events with contemporary times.