What does it mean to speak of the “burden” of the humanities? The phrase can be taken several ways. First, it can refer to the weight the humanities themselves have to bear, the things that they are supposed to accomplish on behalf of us, our nation, or our civilization. But it can also refer to the Ânear Âopposite: the ways in which the humanities are a source of responsibility for us, and their recovery and cultivation and preservation our job, even our Âduty.