  Implicit in these claims for the autonomy of historical inquiry is a distinction between naturalistic and hermeneutic ways of understanding human affairs. Oakeshott uses the word “conduct” to identify human choice and action, contrasting it with behavior explained as the outcome of natural processes. Unlike natural phenomena, human conduct involves ideas. And unlike the natural sciences, the “human sciences” (Geisteswissenchaften, the sciences of mind as a body of ideas) require interpreting ideas, especially those that shape intentional and self-conscious action. The human sciences are, in fact, doubly interpretive because they interpret human conduct, which is itself an activity that involves making and acting on interpretations. And when they go beyond generalizing about human conduct to explaining particular acts, the explanations they provide are “historical” explanations. 