Welcome to the Arts and Humanities at Harvard! 

The works that we teach, study, and build here are at the center of what makes any culture great. If you want to be involved in building something great yourself – whether it is in business, technology, literature, politics, science, entertainment or someplace else – you should want to think about the works that our faculty promote and preserve. Let me tell you why.

We, human beings, do not just live our lives; we seek worthy lives that achieve a significance larger than ourselves. One might find significance in caring for others, in being a great friend, in protecting the rule of law, in perfecting a craft, in leading a country or a business, or in producing great works of art yourself. But what makes these activities significant, and how do we pursue them well? What new activities could make our lives worthwhile? These questions are the mystery at the core of what we study in the arts and humanities. As they are at the heart of human life itself. The arts and humanities, in this way, are the soul of higher education: they animate the significance of everything we do.

Imagine a world without this kind of significance. In such a world, you live your life – you go about the daily slog. But none of your favorite stories, none of the music you love, none of what you consider most beautiful, is there. You have no model of greatness, kindness, or creativity. The question what is good gets no genuine purchase. At best, these wondrous mysteries become dusty abstractions; at worst the questions about them are no longer asked at all. If you can imagine such a dystopia, and if you want to make sure it never happens, then it’s time to consider the arts and humanities.  

The arts and humanities protect us from such a chaos. No STEM technology on its own can build our picture of greatness, kindness, or moral good. No financial model or social policy can justify the story about social worth that it presupposes. Even the scientific study of the universe tells us only what is true; it doesn’t tell us why we should care. I don’t mean to criticize. Like you, I am fascinated by many of the questions at the center of natural science, social science, and applied science. We should all want to learn about them. But these pursuits, as amazing as they are, are only the body, not the soul of an education: they proceed on assumptions about our worth and significance, but rarely manage to ask whether those assumptions are worth embracing. 

The question of our worth and significance, the mystery at the center of human being, is kept alive in the arts and humanities. The great works of literature, poetry, music, art, and philosophy hold secret wisdom regarding this question. This wisdom has been pursued by cultures across the world and over the course of history. We must learn from it, but also learn to surpass it, to build an authentic wisdom of our own. 

The significance of our culture and time depends upon our building such a tradition. Come build the meaning of what is now and what is to come. Come study the arts and humanities.

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Sean D. Kelly
Dean of Arts & Humanities
Teresa G. and Ferdinand F. Martignetti Professor of Philosophy
Department of Philosophy