Humanities vs Social Science: How Do They Differ?
The humanities and social sciences are two popular academic disciplines that give us a greater understanding of human behaviour and societal structures throughout history. Both disciplines examine human experience and society. However, they approach these subjects from unique perspectives. This often leads to a ‘humanities vs social science’ debate. But this debate doesn’t account for the ways these two disciplines work together to create a better society.
In this article, we’ll explain what makes humanities and social sciences uniquely different, the importance of both in our culture, and why fostering new research within these disciplines supports the development of humanity.
What are the humanities?
The humanities are the academic disciplines that consider the fundamental question of what it means to be human. They do so by exploring the many ways we express ourselves as individuals and societies throughout history. These academic disciplines include literature, history, philosophy, and the arts.
The origins of such disciplines can be traced back to past cultures. The word ‘humanities’ comes from studia humanitatis, a Latin term meaning ‘the study of humanity’. The term was popularised during the Renaissance, a period in history that closely studied Latin and Greek literature and culture.
This history behind the word ‘humanities’ gives us an insight into how the discipline itself functions. The Renaissance was a cultural movement that studied ancient cultures because the intellectual advancements of these cultures provided a framework which could be used to better understand the Renaissance’s own historical and cultural developments.
The humanities follow the same methodology, even to this day. The studying of past cultures to better understand the present is what keeps the humanities relevant, especially when addressing the complex challenges we face today.
What is social science?
Like the humanities, social science studies how humans behave and interact within societies. Fields within this academic discipline include anthropology, politics, economics, psychology, and sociology.
As suggested by the name ‘social science’, these studies often utilise empirical and quantitative methods of analysis. For example, anthropologists research and gather data on human relationships, analyse it, and draw conclusions about society based on the evidence.
Social science emerged in the early 19th century, making the discipline much more recent than the humanities. This was a period when humans began to use scientific methods to try and improve societal conditions. Since then, social science has helped establish technological advancements, legal frameworks, and welfare systems aimed at bettering human health and livelihood.
Humanities vs social sciences: the importance of both disciplines
The ‘humanities vs social sciences’ debate lingers for a particular reason. It appears to point to a common desire for individuals or organisations to specialise in certain fields to build their academic identity and subject authority.
For example, PhD students – although potentially taking an interdisciplinary approach to their thesis – aim to become future experts in their chosen discipline. Elsewhere, academic journals may ask themselves whether they want to focus on humanities or social sciences when developing their publishing and businesses models.
The ‘humanities vs social sciences’ debate would appear to suggest that the two disciplines are markedly different from one another. But there are significant overlaps. For one, both have the common goal of better understanding the way humans interact and experience the world. For that reason, the humanities and social sciences are often grouped together along with the arts, a broad category known as SSAH, HASS, or AHSS.
Together, the humanities and social sciences are extremely important to society, helping us to live more ethically as we make sense of the world and aim to address the unique challenges faced by a globalised society.
Fostering new research to support society
Because of their importance, it’s just as important that we actively continue to support new humanities and social sciences publications. This also means ensuring that these publications are published as open access and freely available to all.
In 2025, MDPI Books ran its Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities competition, a publishing initiative supporting researchers within these disciplines. Oner winner was chosen to receive full editorial support and a complete waiver of book processing charges (BPCs), enabling open access publication at no cost to the author.
Humanities and social sciences publications form an important part of the MDPI Books publishing catalogue. We have several open access publications available to download and read, covering a range of topics from misinformation to gender equality.
Want to help foster new research in the humanities and social sciences? Submit a book proposal with us today and begin your route to publication.
