The Philosophical Foundations of Humanities

In this paper, I have first divided humanities into two categories: theoretical/descriptive and practical/normative. Descriptive humanities try to identify and describe the various aspects of human kind including individual, social, objective and subjective; while normative sciences try to systematically present some commands to regulate the human behavior. Based on the philosophical analysis of human's voluntary behavior, I have then pictured the role of target in humanities. According to Islamicphilosophy, human is an Intentional Agent (fâ’il-i-bilgasd) in his voluntary acts and performs them to reach a goal. The agent wants to achieve a specific aim, but since this aim is only achieved through performing a specific act, the desire of the aim (=the ultimate cause) will lead into its performance. Therefore, the value of a voluntary action depends on the value of its aim. Accordingly, the establishment of humanities is based on our consideration of the ultimate goal of human's existence, and also its intermediate goals. But the determination of these goals entails the knowledge of the reality of human's existence. We cannot understand what a human should become unless we recognize the reality of human. Anthropology, as a philosophical discussion, requires ontological and epistemological foundations. In conclusion, the applied humanities are based on descriptive humanities which are themselves based on philosophical anthropology, ontology and epistemology. Hence to refine the present Western humanities or establish Islamic human sciences, we should start by refining the theoretical foundations of these sciences.