Text and specifics of the humanities

Abstract

The paper examines the problem of the criteria for the scientific nature of humanitarian knowledge and its demarcation from natural science. The goal is to determine the specifics of the humanities. The author proposes to discuss the texts as a subject of the humanities. The classical understanding of the text presents it as written works, taken in different genres of literature. Cognitive strategies for studying such texts are called textual methodologies. It is impossible to give a general justification for all the humanities with this approach. Therefore, author proposes to consider an expanded understanding of texts as outwardly objectified results of a person’s spiritual activity. Such an extension will allow to explore a vast subject area, which will include classical texts. With this approach, the category of “understanding” becomes the central unifying category. It is also subject to the creation of a comprehensive understanding methodology capable of explaining the difference be­tween the humanities and the natural sciences. The subject universality of the textual nature of the humanities makes possible the “transfer” of hermeneutical methodology to the whole world of humanitarian culture.