: In fields like art history, it involves studying "documents" (traces of human thought/action) and "monuments" (artifacts that hold urgent meaning for us in the present).
: It maintains direct contact with the actual human problems that animate the field in the first place, rather than retreating into purely technical or abstract puzzles. humanistic discipline
According to Williams and other scholars like Erwin Panofsky, the proper features of such a discipline include: : In fields like art history, it involves
: Its primary function is to help humans make sense of their lives, ideas, and experiences in the specific situation they find themselves in. : Despite not being a science, it remains
: Despite not being a science, it remains a "discipline" that requires clarity, reasoned argument, and "getting it right".
: It often emphasizes human shared characteristics, such as mortality, reason, and the responsibility individuals have for themselves and others.
: It must attend to history—specifically the "historical activity of understanding where [our ideas] came from"—because these ideas are contingent and have evolved over time.