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← Knowledge & Inquiry syllabus

SingaporeKnowledge & Inquiry

Knowledge in the Humanities and Social Sciences

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How does history establish causes and construct narratives, and can historical knowledge be objective given the role of selection and interpretation?

Do the human sciences explain behaviour by causal laws like the natural sciences, or do they aim at a different kind of understanding?

How can interpreting a text or action be knowledge if every interpretation depends on prior assumptions and the part depends on the whole?

Can the humanities and social sciences be objective, or are their findings inescapably coloured by the standpoint of the inquirer?

Where do the values of the inquirer legitimately enter social research, and where must they be kept out?