What do we study when we study the world?

Abstract

The essay reflects on the ‘material thinness’ of the ‘bubble’, of the human social reality in comparison to the hugeness of the observable universe. Second, I distinguish between the biosphere as a space on the Earth surface where DNA-based life thrives, on the one hand, and the social reality (semiosphere), on the other; the latter generated solely by humans and their social use of language. On this basis, I propose that while most natural sciences deal with the entire material reality, the purview of the social sciences and the humanities is limited to the human semiosphere only. A conscious realization of the fact appears to put many human pursuits in a better perspective.