Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 37, No. 12.
        Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
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        Date: 2023-05-09 14:59:47+00:00
        From: Robert Royar <robert@royar.org>
        Subject: Re: [Humanist] 37.5: on scientising the humanities

We could look back to a time much earlier than the 13th c. C.E. to see
systematic use of evidence-based analysis of text (and speech). The Art of
Rhetoric and the Art of Poetry are two touchstones for this, but Plato's
writing also contains dialogues that demonstrate how to analyse language
and thought in a codified and systematized method. Isocrates and others
come to mind. Then there are the handbooks to help one apply the
discoveries to the production of speech or writing: e.g., the Ad Herennium.
Using the example of the 13th c. concordance, one could argue that the
commentaries on interpretation of the Quran and the Talmud -- the ones that
treated those two texts as evidence -- were also examples of early
applications of scientific methods (of their day). Those studying the
original texts and the commentaries in order to render judgements under
canon law were producing evidence-based interpretation of textual sources.
They relied on concepts such as precedent and evidence vs. interpretations.
Precedent is analogous to replication of results in that it builds a case
based on the preponderance of past findings. Evidence may be re-interpreted
based on new findings or new arguments that come to light. For example, may
beaver be eaten on days when meat is prohibited? Of course we may scoff at
such quibbles as unscientific in our pre-future world, but the rational
apparatus was already in place for scientific methods of inquiry. The rules
of evidence were already in play. We disagree with our predecessors as
to what constitutes "factual evidence."

On Mon, May 8, 2023 at 19:35 maurizio lana <maurizio.lana@uniupo.it> wrote

>         Subject: Re: [Humanist] 36.561: on scientising the humanities,
> including by digital means
>
> i think that - don't know if by direct impulse or not from the STEM
> disciplines - the humanities are slowly adopting an "evidence based"
> approach to the reading and interpretation of the textual material,
> thanks to the (humbly named) "text analysis": that is conclusions about
> the meaning of a text are drawn on the basis of evidences - not the
> interpretive genius of the scholar.
>
 [...]

> (nothing new under the sun, all this starts in 1247 in Paris with the
> production of the first concordance of the Bible by Hugues de St-Cher:
> read the text by the text. this shows that scientising the humanities
> doesn't necessarily imply digitising them rather treating the text as
> data Lutoslawski docet)
>

--
               Robert Delius Royar
 Caught in the net since 1985


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