HS 1001 - History and Philosophy of the Human Sciences

This is an introductory course tracing the development of the Human Science approach to the understanding of human thought, experience, institutions, and cultures. It begins with a review of the historical discussions about the nature of knowledge and how we know (epistemology) and the question about whether the natural or "standard" science model is sufficient to understand the subjective and intersubjective facets of human life. It examines the contributions of some of the early initiators of the human science dialogue, including Dilthy, Gadamer, Weber, and Husserl and the expansion of the human science dialogue through critical theory, structuralism, feminism, and postmodernism. The relation of Human Science to humanistic and transpersonal viewpoints, to the natural and social sciences, humanities, studies in religion and spirituality and to mainstream psychology and psychiatry are also considered. The various methods of inquiry that have been developed as a result of this ongoing endeavor to understand the complexities and nuances of human experience are described here, but explored in more detail in the Theories of Inquiry and Critical Theories in the Human Sciences courses. 3 credit(s)

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