Human sciences cannot answer the philosophical question of Being.

Evidence

I myself, then, will be the path. But Heidegger re-emphasises that this does not mean I should sign up for courses in human sciences such as biology, anthropology, psychology or sociology. These merely ‘ontical’ inquiries have nothing to contribute to an ontological investigation. Like the speculative debris cleared away by Husserl’s epoché, they are likely only to get in the way by clogging up our inquiry with irrelevant ideas. If I want to know what a human being is, it’s no good wiring one up to a EEG machine to measure brain waves, or analysing examples of behaviour. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 199

Categorization

• XREF: Heidegger’s dismissal of empirical science as ‘ontical’ anticipates the two-cultures divide and the science-wars debates; also connects to Jaspers’ turn from psychology (mentioned in the passage). — connects to: Science cannot answer the fundamental questions of human existence. — Scientific knowledge does not question the existence of God; Human knowledge is limited and cannot answer why the universe exists or the purpose of life. — Science, Faith, and the Limits of Human Knowledge; Human knowledge fails to answer life’s fundamental questions. — Leo Tolstoy, A Confession, 64 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Human knowledge fails to answer life’s fundamental questions. #corroborates (0.82) — Leo Tolstoy, A Confession, 64
• Philosophy can only restate life’s fundamental questions. #qualifies (0.72) — Leo Tolstoy, A Confession, 74