Human Sciences

Jens Hoyrup is Professor in the Section for Philosophy and Science Studies at Roskilde University in Denmark and the author of In Measure, Number, and Weight: Studies in Mathematics and Culture, also published by SUNY Press.

"The originality of the work is unquestionable. It is the product of deep learning and reflection, and it provides a fresh look at the development of and the prospects for the humanities." — Lewis Pyenson, coauthor of Servants of Nature: A History of Scientific Institutions, Enterprises, and Sensibilities"This is an extremely timely subject, especially as the value and importance of the humanities have recently come into question so prominently in the national press. It is a continuing concern of higher education, especially as colleges and universities face increasing pressure to stress professional and scientific education. The question of how the humanities should serve to prepare students and the public at large for the many challenges life provides is one reason this book is of considerable interest." — Joseph W. Dauben, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York

• Introduction Some Fundamental Concepts Part I: Institutions, Professions, and Ideas Approaching the Humanities through their History and Settings1 A Bronze Age Scribal Culture: A Sociological Fable with an Implicit MoralBrain work and state formationThe first intellectualsScribal "humanism"2 Classical AntiquityThe rise of philosophyFrom the Sophists to AristotleThe epoch of HellenizationThe impact of Christianity3 The Middle AgesAn era of renascencesThe Central Middle Ages (750 to 1050)The age of the Liberal ArtsThe rise of universitiesAristotelianismThe compromiseThe fourteenth centuryThe post-medieval university4 The RenaissanceRenaissance and HumanismThe wider contextHumanist scholarship, pedantry, and the humanitiesA "Scientific Renaissance"?5 The Early Modern Epoch and ClassicismA shifting centre of gravityCourtly culture and classicismFrom scientific to philosophical revolutionScholarly and theoretical activityThe problem of the Baroque6 The EnlightenmentThe appearance of the "public sphere"The Enlightenment movement and its workersGeneral themes and accomplishmentPhilosophy redefinedEnlightenment and Revolution7 The Nineteenth CenturyThe institutionalization of unbounded scientific questThe German university reform and the humanities"Positive knowledge"Popularized science and popular scienceAcademic and non-academic humanities8 Toward the Present: Scientific Humanities9 Bibliographic EssayPart II: Human Science and Human "Nature" 10 Cognitive Interests11 Anthropologies12 Theories of Created ManDetermination by the bodyEnvironmental determinationSociologismsWeberian sociology: an exampleStructuralismsFunctionalism13 Humanity as FreedomThe early Sartre: freedom as an absolute principleThe elusive connection: freedom versus explanation14 Toward Synthesis: Human Nature as Dialectic and HistoryDialecticSumming upPart III: The Art of Knowing An Essay on Epistemology in Practice15 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONSPhilosophy and the problem of knowledge16 A Piagetian Introduction to the General Problem of KnowledgeSchemes and dialecticThe periodsSupplementary observationsThe status of schemes and categories17 The Nature and Demarcation of Scientific KnowledgeA pseudo-historical introduction to some key conceptsEmpiricism and falsificationismInstrumentalism and truthInstruments or models?18 A New Approach: Theories about the Scientific ProcessPopper and Lakatos: theories or research programmes?Theories falsified by theoriesThe limits of formalizationKuhn: Paradigms and finger exercisesThe structure of scientific developmentCollective and individual knowledgeTwo kinds of"logic"Objections and further meditations19 Truth, Causality, and ObjectivityTruthCausalityObjectivity, subjectivity, and particularism20 The Role of NormLogic and normsExplanations of moralityMorality, language and social practiceKnowledge, norms and ideologyValue relativism and value nihilismInstitutional imperativesTheoretical versus applied scienceFurther norms, contradictions, contradictory interpretations21 The Theory of Interdisciplinary and Applied ScienceKnow-how and know-whyThe acquisition of theoretical knowledgeThe "Scientific-Technological Revolution"InterdisciplinarityInterdisciplinarity in basic research22 Art and CognitionKnowing about artKnowing in artFresh eyesForm versus contentsGelsted and EpicurosArt as thought experiments"Realism"Synthetical understanding and practical knowledgeAbbreviations and Bibliography Name and Title Index Subject Index