National Humanities Institute

Our Mission

The National Humanities Institute is working to reconstitute the humanities, which over time will influence the fundamental direction of society as a whole.

One of the great illusions of our age is that it is politicians who shape society’s future. This belief has long obfuscated the deepening problems of our civilization and the preconditions for overcoming them. The ability of politicians to act is in reality severely circumscribed by the deep-seated beliefs and aspirations of a people and its elites. These beliefs and aspirations, which can be changed only with difficulty, emerge from society’s moral, intellectual, and aesthetical life. The direction of politics and the economy is ultimately traceable to this source.
 

Over time, society lives by its culture, for good or ill. A crucial role is played by the humanities in the broad sense, for they profoundly affect a people’s fundamental sense of reality and innermost dreams. In the end, these are what determine the long-term evolution of society.

Any real and lasting renewal of society must start in the humanities, in the mind and the imagination—in universities and schools, literature and the arts. To change society more than superficially it is necessary to change the basic orientation of the culture. Through  journals and newsletters, articles and books, scholarly panels, media appearances, and special projects—and not least through this web site—NHI is striving to make the needed reorientation of contemporary culture a vibrant reality.
 


Copyright © 2000 NATIONAL HUMANITIES INSTITUTE
Updated 8 April 2000