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PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE HUMANITIES?

E. Koster

Abstract

The humanities are rapidly changing nowadays. Since the late nineteenth century the humanities claimed to follow an own method: ‘hermeneutics’ (Verstehen). This method was different than the methods of the (natural) sciences. While scientists explain nature by way of counting, measurement, and formulating laws, scholars in de humanities try to understand (hermeneutics) particular and unique phenomena – such as texts, artworks, or for instance a historical period – by way of empathy and imagining. However, during the last decennium the focus on ‘big data’ caused a revolution in the humanities: nowadays a lot of information that can empirically be confirmed is accurately gathered and statistically analyzed. Looking for patterns and measurable relationships, scholars in the humanities became respected empirical scientists. The empirical turn resulted in a new paradigm, sometimes referred to as ‘Humanities 2.0’, the successor of the old paradigm ‘Humanities 1.0’ (Verstehen). While it is undeniable that interesting new perspectives are opened by Humanities 2.0, something is lost as well. Inspired by philosophers such as Hegel and Heidegger (on different approaches to the phenomenon of reflection), and Ricoeur (speaking about the third stadium of the hermeneutical arc), I try to develop a new paradigm in the humanities: Humanities 3.0. This paradigm does not reject the results of Humanities 1.0 and Humanities 2.0, but tries to become relevant and interesting to actual audiences.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/SGEMSOCIAL2017/HB21/S06.039

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