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Chapter 15
The Interrelationships of the Humanities
Objectives
After studying this chapter, students should be able to
Understand how the humanities are inclusive.
Distinguish the arts from the other humanities according to method.
Distinguish the arts from the sciences.
Understand the difference in conception and perception.
Determine what value is and the distinction between intrinsic, extrinsic, and intrinsicextrinsic values.
Comprehend the differences between “value facts” and “normative values.”
Understand the role of the arts in the other humanities, especially history, philosophy, and
theology.
Outline of Chapter
A.
B.
C.
The Humanities and the Sciences
1.
Humanities includes all the arts plus history, philosophy, and theology.
2.
Some aspects of the following may be included: psychology, anthropology,
sociology, political science, economics, business administration, and education.
3.
Never included are physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, or engineering
because strict scientific or objective standards are clearly applicable.
4.
As an illustration, C. G. Jung is a psychologist, but his theories apply to the study
of myth and the collective unconscious.
5.
Clear-cut placements into the humanities or sciences are misleading.
6.
The separation is used to indicate the use of strict scientific method.
The Arts and the Other Humanities
1.
Artists are humanists.
2.
Artists differ from other humanists primarily because they create works that
reveal values.
3.
The important values of society are the artists’ subject matter. Artists clarify
these values.
4.
Other humanists (historians, philosophers, and theologians) reflect upon, rather
than reveal, values. They analyze to clarify; artists reveal values artistically.
5.
Other humanists do not transform values, artistic revelation does. Artists can help
other humanists penetrate the values that they are analyzing.
6.
Other humanists (critics and sociologists) may aid artists by their study of values.
Perceiving and Thinking
1.
Perceiving dominates in the arts whereas thinking dominates in the other
humanities (although, of course, the two almost always belong together).
2.
3.
4.
D.
E.
F.
Descartes thought that conceiving occurred without any elements of perceiving.
Most philosophers and psychologists agree that most abstract thinking of
mathematicians, since it must be done with perceptible signs—numbers—
includes perception.
True appreciation of the arts invites a balance of conception and perception. In
the arts, perception is in the foreground; in the other humanities, conception
is in the foreground.
Values
1.
Something we care about, something that matters.
2.
A value is an object of an interest.
3.
Positive values are those objects of interest that satisfy or give pleasure (good
health). Negative values are those that dissatisfy or give pain (bad health).
4.
Used alone, value refers to positive values.
5.
Intrinsic values: feelings (e.g., pleasure or pain) we have of some value activity
such as enjoying good food or being nauseated from overeating.
6.
Extrinsic values: means to intrinsic values, such as making money that pays for
the food.
7.
Intrinsic-extrinsic values not only evoke immediate feelings but also are means to
further values, such as the enjoyable food that leads to future good health.
8.
Heroin may have great positive intrinsic value, but then extrinsically it probably
will have powerful negative value, leading to great suffering.
9.
Participation in the arts may have both intrinsic and extrinsic value.
10.
Most important gift of the arts is the understanding it give us of others.
11.
Various theories of the origin of values exist; one is that interest projects the value
on something. This is the “subjectivist theories of value” claim.
12.
Others claim that it is the object that excites interest. That is, the painting is of
value even if no one has interest in it. This is the “objectivist theories of value”
claim.
13.
The relational theory of value, the one used by the authors, claims that value
emerges from the relation between an interest and an object.
14.
Criticism tends to focus on the intrinsic values of works of art; economics focuses
on commodities as extrinsic values; and ethics focuses on intrinsic-extrinsic
values as they are or ought to be chosen by moral agents.
15.
Value facts: described scientifically as they are found
16.
Normative values: set forth as norms or ideals or what ought to be.
17.
Humanities can help clarify values.
The Arts and History
1.
Scientific method provides facts.
2.
Arts reveal the norms of a people; e.g., their views of birth and death, blessing
and disaster, victory and disgrace, endurance and decline, themselves and God,
fate and what ought to be.
The Arts and Philosophy
1.
An attempt to give reasoned answers to fundamental questions.
2.
Ethics regards moral judgments and the study of norms or standards for value
decisions.
3.
See John Dewey’s statement.
G.
The Arts and Theology
1.
Despite differences in practice, religions generally agree that their communion
with the sacred is more important than their other values.
2.
First of three common experiences: uneasy awareness of limitations of human
moral and theoretical powers.
3.
Second, awe-full awareness of a further reality, a majestic mystery, beyond or
behind or within the world of our sense experience.
4.
Third, conviction that communion with this further reality is of supreme import.
Terms Used in Chapter 15
collective unconscious
values
conception
perception
object
intrinsic values
extrinsic values
ethics
morals
Possible Discussion/Lecture Topics
The Conception Keys throughout the chapter offer excellent discussion/lecture topics.
Study Guide (based on text)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Explain what the text means by the “other humanities.” What are they?
Why is science excluded from the study of humanities? Why is C. G. Jung an exception?
How do the humanities clarify values? Explain the importance of the humanities in
regard to values.
Explain intrinsic, extrinsic, and intrinsic-extrinsic values.
What are the subjectivist, the objectivist, and the relational theories of value? Be specific.
What kind of values does ethics emphasize?
How does heroin figure in terms of values according to the text?
What are value facts?
What are normative values?
What does John Dewey argue?
Exercises
Analyze a mixed-media art, such as opera or a movie mentioned in the text. Does one art
dominate? If so, which one, and is this an artistic negative? Try to find an example in which a
perfect or almost perfect meld is achieved.
Create an imaginary school curriculum in which value facts and normative values (as described
in the text) are combined in a course. What would the course include and how would the course
be structured?
List examples from your experience in which percepts dominate concepts. Then list examples
from your experience in which concepts dominate percepts. Which kind of experience do you
enjoy more? Why? What does this tell you about yourself?
Select works of art from the text that you think might be of greatest significance to a theologian.
What is the basis for your selection?
Chapter 15: Sample Test Questions
Select the letter of the choice that BEST answers the question:
1.
One course that is never included in the humanities is
a.
history
b.
ethics
c.
psychology
d.
chemistry
Answer: d
2.
The scientist
a.
clarifies values
b.
studies values
c.
creates values
d.
ignores values
Answer: b
3.
Perception
a.
is always passive
b.
never involves conception
c.
involves the stimulation of sense organs
d.
all of the above
Answer: c
4.
An example of perceiving without conception is
a.
a newborn
b.
a philosopher
c.
red striking our eyes
d.
a mathematician
Answer: a
5.
A participative experience with a work of art is basically
a.
an extrinsic value
b.
c.
d.
Answer: c
an intrinsic value
an intrinsic-extrinsic value
an objective value
6.
Ethics focuses on
a.
intrinsic values
b.
extrinsic values
c.
intrinsic-extrinsic values
d.
none of the above
Answer: c
7.
Value facts are the province of
a.
the arts
b.
the sciences
c.
business
d.
mothers of infants
Answer: b
8.
The study of history is best served by using the
a.
scientific method
b.
value facts
c.
works of art
d.
philosophy
Answer: c
9.
Theology is
a.
an art
b.
a science
c.
one of the other humanities
d.
a religion
Answer: c
10.
Normative values are
a.
ideals
b.
value facts
c.
the values of theology
d.
verified by scientists
Answer: b
11.
John Dewey argued that art is more moral than moralities because
a.
of the poets
b.
it consecrates the status quo
c.
it reflects customs
d.
it reinforces the established order
Answer: a
12.
Factual values are verified
a.
through art
b.
through history
c.
experimentally
d.
experientially
Answer: c
13.
Despite their differences in beliefs, religious people generally agree
a.
in value facts
b.
on the importance of art
c.
that religious values are ultimate
d.
on the importance of communion
Answer: c
14.
The ultimate goal of the text is to
a.
persuade students to buy art
b.
persuade students to look at art
c.
persuade students to participate in art
d.
persuade students to understand art
Answer: c
Essay Question
By studying Raphael’s Madonna della Sedia (Figure 14-14), what could a historian discover
about the norms of the people of the Renaissance that would not be revealed in the facts of
history?