More on Robert Scholes's Humanities in a Posthumanist World

So, I was intrigued, and glad, when Scholes addressed, in more specific terms, what the humanities cannot do (make us better people, save the world, "humanize" us) and what they can do:

"We cannot make ourselves or anyone else virtuous, but we can illuminate the question of what virtue is.  We cannot ... create a conscience for our society.  But we can raise the consciousness of those around us--and ourselves--about the humane values on which conscience is based.  We cannot interpret the crucial texts of our culture with fundamentalist certainty.  But we can help those who study with us learn to read and interpret our foundational texts in ways that are careful, sensitive, and rational.  This means that we must read and discuss the important religious and political texts in our classes." (731)

And then he goes on to say something that I absolutely agree with--so it was nice to see it articulated so strongly and clearly:

"We must show that the works we value are not merely beautiful objects from some lost past but tools for thinking and feelings, ways of understanding the world and its people.  We should, however, resist the temptation to turn the works we love into sacred texts.  Our lesson must be that there are no sacred texts that are beyond interpretation--for interpretation is at the heart of the humanistic enterprise." (732)

So, the value of the humanities, if I understand Scholes correctly, is that they allow us, even teache us, to interpret and re-interpret "foundational" texts of "our" culture? Perhaps, the humanities--and what do they precisely include?--are the place where we get to re-interpret who we are?  Where we learn about the sources of "our" culture, and perhaps our cultures? And re-possess these by interpreting and re-interpreting them?  But also getting to know them?  Reading them (thus learning, perhaps Latin and Greek, and perhaps another ancient language?  Sanscrit?  Hindu?)

At any rate, I am very intrigued to find out what you all think about Scholes's presidential address.

Just for curiosity's sake, I checked the wikipedia definition of the humanities:
The humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences.
Examples of the disciplines of the humanities are ancient and modern languages, literature, law, history, philosophy, religion, and visual and performing arts (including music and theatre).