Goals,Origins, Disciplines RAYMOND GEUSS An 1894Wilhelm Windelband, whowasProfessorofPhilosophy at theUniversity ofStraßburg, gavethe annual Rector's Address totheassembled members oftheuniversity . He tookas histopicthestructure andclassification ofthesciences.1 Itissuperficial, heclaimed, totry todivide thesciences byreference totheir subject matter intosciences ofnature ontheonehandandsciences ofspirit (orculture) ontheother. A physical objectlikeMontBlancora species ofplantor animalcan be thesubject ofaesthetic analysis andevaluation, butsuchanalysis is notpartofnatural science .Similarly, anyhuman artistic activity hasa psychological and eventually a neuro-physiological or biochemical basis,butthisdoesnotmakea study ofthebrain activity of Michelangelo whilehe was painting partof "thehumanities "(aswewouldcallthem). Neither isitthecasethat there issomespecific method orsetofcharacteristic methods used bythenatural as opposedto thecultural sciences (orvice versa).Precise observation isequally important everywhere, andthebasicforms oflogicalinference andevidentiary argumentation aresimilar in all scientific disciplines. Nevertheless , Windelband argued, there isanimportant distinction between thetwobasickindsof"science"; itis merely that thedistinction is notinterms ofmethods orsubject matter butinterms ofgoalsoraims.Sciences, after all,aresystematichuman constructs, andmost organized human activity is guided bysomegoalorother. Wecategorize things indifferentwaysdepending on ourdifferent purposes. A practical field guidetoidentifying things thatfly inthenight skyina certain region oftheearth might appropriately include both ARION 17.2 FALL 2OO9 2 GOALS, ORIGINS, DISCIPLINES owlsandbats,although according to another classificatory system which iswidely usedinbiology, owlsandbatsdonot belong very closely together becausethefirst arebirdsand thesecond mammals. Thefield guide isnotwrong toinclude batsandowls(though itwouldbewrong ifitasserted that batsbelong tothebiological order avesorowlstotheorder mammalia). Similarly, a survival manual might perfectly reasonably grouptogether somekindsofmushrooms and insects in one chapter,"Thingshumanscan eat," and distinguish them from a groupcontaining poisonous mushroomsand other"Things humans cannoteat" in another chapter, eventhough thisdivision cutsacrossrecognized biological categories. One reasonable humangoal is to learnto dealwiththe worldbyrecognizing therecurrent regularities it exhibits. Sciences with this goalWindelband called"nomothetic." All mushrooms thatlooklikethisarepoisonous andifyoueat them youwillbecome very illindeed, andperhaps die.On theother hand,as human beings weareinterested notonly inlaws,regularities, andrecurrent features oftheworld, but alsoincertain striking singularities. So,forinstance, weare interested notjustinthewaysMrsΌallow ay is onemore novelexhibiting thefeatures all othernovelsexhibit, but also in whatmakesitdifferent from other novelsor even unique. Anaccount aimedatexhibiting thesingularity ofan object orevent wastobecalled"idiographic." The periodoftheSecondGerman Empire (1871-1919) wasinanycasea Golden Agefor thediscussion ofclassificatory problems. Thisisprobably notunconnected with certain aggressive imperialist ambitions that were widely entertained bythepolitical classesofthetime, which inturn weremirrored inthedominance ofneo-Kantianism.2 Kantwasnotoriously almost pathologically obsessed with intellectual (and moral) tidiness, with making sharp andcleardistinctions that wouldallowonetodivide theworld upinto easily cognizable objects andsectors. Fortheneo-Kantian thequestion ofthe autonomy, distinctiveness, andprinciples ofdivision ofdif- Raymond Geuss 3 ferent kinds ofhuman activity wasofthevery greatest concern . Sometimes these werenothing butturf wars, butsometimesmore substantive issueswere in play.Thus, the discussion of economics between theso-calledHistorical Schoolandthefollowers andassociates ofCarlMenger had ostensibly to do withtherolethatinstitutions and history should playinthestudy ofeconomics, butthat disagreement clearly mirrored differences intheconception ofthewayeconomicdevelopment would,could,or shouldtakeplace. Could theindustrial structures of Manchester simply be replicated inGermany, orwouldeconomic development need totakea very different course given thedifferences inhistory andinstitutions between Germany andBritain? Windelband, ofcourse, writing inlate-nineteenth-century Germany, didnothaveat hisdisposaltheconcept of"the humanities," butwouldhavehad to speakoftheGeistesundKulturwissenschaften . Actually hisRectoral Address is entitled "Geschichte undNaturwissenschaft," though atone pointhe also refers to lesbelleslettres. Evenifonecannot takeseriously Windelband's specific theory aboutthenomothetic andidiographic, hispoint that whatisatissuearedisciplinesas humanconstructs, not simplyunvarnished, contrasting blocksofmaterial, iswelltaken. Whenwe talk aboutthehumanities we are talking abouta setofdisciplines , humanconstructs, and we can undertake theconstruction ofthesedisciplines ina variety ofdifferent ways, andalsoclassify thekinds ofconstructs that result ina varietyofdifferent ways. Windelband's twobasicquestions, then, arewhatsorts of things do weas humans generally wanttoknowabout,and why? Onewayoftrying toanswer these questions isbyobserving thatthere is a strong humantendency to wantto knowabouttheorigins ofthings, as ifthisallowedone a specialaccesstounderstanding them. Whatisprobably the oldestextant document ofWestern literature provides severalinstances ofthistendency. In theIliad (book 6, lines 119-236)3Homer describes anencounter onthefield ofbat- 4 GOALS, ORIGINS, DISCIPLINES tiebetween twowarriors whodo notknoweachother. Beforetheyfight , one,theGreekDiomedes, son ofTydeus, askstheother, whoturns outto be an allyoftheTrojans named Glaukos, whoheis (τίς δέσύέσσι, φέριστε, καταθν- ητών ανθρώπων;). Glaukos replies byembarking ona genealogyreaching backfive generations, which contains a series of elaboratenarrative accountsof whathis father and grandfather and variousof his ancestors did at various points intheir lives: High-hearted sonofTydeus, whyaskofmygeneration [τίη γενεήν έρεείνεις;]? Asisthegeneration ofleaves[γενεή], so isthat ofhumanity. Thewindscatters theleavesontheground, butthelivetimber burgeons with leavesagainintheseasonofspring returning. So onegeneration [γενεή] ofmenwillgrow while another dies.Yetifyouwishtolearn allthis andbecertain ofmygenealogy: [οφρ έΰείδης /ήμετέρην γενεήν: literally, "that youmight knowwellourgeneration /race/lineage"] there areplenty ofmenwhoknowit. Therefollow hereaboutfifty linesdescribing thetrials, vicissitudes , andheroic exploits ofhisvarious ancestors (Ailos >Sisyphos > Glaukos(I) >Bellerophontes >Hippolochos). Glaukos endshisgenealogy byspeaking ofhisfather: ButHippolochos begot me,andI claimthat heismyfather; hesent metoTroy, andurged uponmerepeated injunctions, tobealways among thebravest, andholdmyheadaboveothers...