Humanities needed to help common good: Lecturer

By CathNews New Zealand

September 29th, 2026

University of Otago (Ulrich Lange/Wikimedia Commons)

A biblical studies lecturer at the University of Otago says the study of the humanities, including theology, is needed so that a “critical mass” of people can draw on intellectual and cultural traditions in order to make prudent and morally sound decisions for the sake of the common good. Source: Otago Daily Times.

Associate Professor James Harding said in an opinion piece that humanities and the sciences alike are “both ultimately concerned with the sincere, rigorous and disciplined search for truth”.

“I am not sure that the humanities can be defended on the grounds that they are ‘useful’, at least in not strictly pragmatic or utilitarian terms,” he said.

“With some exceptions – law, for example – most humanities subjects are not vocational and do not lead to an obvious career path.

“We can talk earnestly about critical thinking and transferable skills, and we should, but we still need some idea of why it might be valuable [to] immerse oneself for three or four years in the study of some specific branch of human culture, often acquiring a significant burden of debt, with no guarantee of future employment.

“Instead,” the academic continued, “we could ask what is necessary for a democratic society to flourish.”

“I suggest that for a democratic society to flourish, for it to be morally and, indeed, spiritually healthy, there needs to be a critical mass of people capable of drawing deeply from the wells of our shared cultural and intellectual traditions in order to make prudent and morally sound decisions for the sake of the common good.

“This is where the humanities have an invaluable contribution to make,” Professor Harding said.

“I would like to offer a modest proposal. I suggest that a truly valuable humanities degree, in this place, would be grounded in the study of languages – I would argue te reo Māori and some combination of Hebrew, Greek and Latin, though there are many other possibilities – with serious attention to the richness of the mythological, literary, philosophical and religious traditions that have been handed down to us in those languages.”

Professor Harding said students would learn the value of intellectual integrity and the importance of treating people with dignity.

FULL STORY

Ancient wisdom and the modern world (James Harding/Otago Daily Times)