Humanism

Humanism is a philosophical-position, ethical-outlook, or life-stance, which places human beings, their well-being, freedom and capacity for reason at the centre of moral and intellectual life.

Humanism claims to begin with the commitment to a naturalistic human-centred ethic. Not the belief that only Humans matter and the we are therefore licenced to use and exploit the natural world and other creatures in any way we like. And not the idea that Humans are the pinnacle of nature and so should be worshipped instead of God. Rather, the idea is that our ethics should be based on human flourishing alone (the ancient Greeks called it 'Eudaemonia') and that we should not determine the best way to live by reference to authoritarian systems or so-called supernatural revelation.

We should look to what science can tell us about the nature of the world and our own natures and by use of reason decide together, in a democratic, open society the best ways to live. Humanists would say 'ways' here rather than 'way' as in a multi-cultural society there may be multiple 'good lives' and not just one good way to live. Therefore an important value for the Humanist is tolerance of diversity and difference where is does not impact negatively on other citizens and their rights.

Humanism holds that human beings must seek meaning, knowledge and moral direction through reason, evidence, experience and reflection rather than revelation.

Humanists are optimists about the human future and the power of unaided human reason. They believe that humans have the cognitive, cultural, and technological resources to save the human race and provide a happy and flourishing life for all on the planet.

Humanists hold science in high regard as it has provided us with many goods. On the other hand they are not blind to the evils that science can promote when applied badly.

More importantly, Humanists do not believe that science is the sole source of knowledge, a position known as 'scientism'. Humanist take the view that meaning, purpose and values arise from our common life-world as interacting humans in community and cannot simply be reduced to facts of the hard-sciences. They acknowledge the the so called fact-value distinction promoted by the 18th century philosopher David Hume: that you cannot deduce values simply from hard facts alone.

But does Humanism work?

Is it possible to have purpose and live your life meaningfully without some kind of supernatural reality as a reference point? Is the natural world on its own enough? Doesn't life without some sense of transcendent meaning inevitably lead to nihilism and despair?

Doesn't death without an afterlife render mortal life meaningless? Is it possible to lead a happy and worthwhile life knowing it all ends in death?

Without supernatural sanctions of reward and punishment how do humanists and atheists develop morality? Some critics say that Humanists are just simply adopting Christian values even though they have dropped the supernatural underpinning—so they are kind of parasitic upon traditional ethics.

Are Humanists just too idealistic in thinking that humans are naturally good and will seek the common good without sanctions?

If we were all atheists wouldn't that led to moral anarchy, violence, rape, pillage and a general breakdown of society? Here is an example of this kind of argument.

Are Humanism and Religion necessarily in opposition? Even Richard Dawkins has describe himself as a cultural Christian, enjoying the values and traditions of the institutions of faith without commitment to the associated belief system.

The biologist Stephen Jay Gould has proposed the idea of Non-overlapping Magisteria (NOMA) where religion deals with purpose, meaning, and values while science deals with explanation of natural phenomena. He argues that both are happy and compatible if they stick to their own domains. But do they always keep to their side of the divide? Fundamentalist Christians, for instance assert that the Genesis creation story is historically true and therefore trumps modern scientific accounts.

The late Don Cupitt proposed that religious faith must be interpreted as purely expressive, like art, and resist the desire to explain natural events in terms of miracle or providence. Most religious folk would not want to renounce belief in an interventionist God but Cupitt argues that while conceiving God as an an ideal might not have a lot of pushing power it has a lot of pulling power and is therefore still religiously valuable. There is also a whole branch of modern Judaism, known as Humanistic Judaism, that is committed to a non-theistic understanding of the Jewish tradition . Members consider themselves faithful Jews but reject traditional theism. Quakers also have a non-theistic school of thought.

What is Humanism?

● Humanist Videos — Short and long video clips depending on how much time you've got.
● What is Humanism?
● Is Humanism hopeless?
● Humanist Manifestos and Declarations

Anti-Humanism

Not all opposition to Humanism comes from religious believers, some comes from atheists too. The philosopher John Gray is one of the principal atheist critics of Humanism.

● Against humanism by Mary Midgley
● Anti Anti-humanism
● John Gray's Objections to Humanism
● Through the Looking Glass
● A Refutation of John Gray’s Rejection of Humanism
● Thank God Atheists Do Not Live By Their Worldview
● Things Atheists Are Tired of Hearing
● There is Nothing Wrong with Humanism

Humanist Blogs

● Andrew Copston's Blog 🔗 — Chief Executive of Humanists UK
● The Humanist Blog 🔗
● New Humanist Blog
● Humanist International Blog
● Happiness Through Humanism
● What I Believe
● Humanists Together
● Humanist Ceremonies Blog
● Humanist World Blog
● Secular Hub Blog
● Humanism on Reddit
● Washington Ethical Society (US)

Humanist Magazines

● New Humanist Magazine
● The Freethinker Magazine
● The Humanist Magazine (US)
● Humanistically Speaking Magazine

Humanist Oganisations

● Humanists UK 🔗 🔗
● Humanist UK Videos
● Humanist Heritage 🔗 🔗 🔗
● Humanist Heritage Videos
● Understanding Humanism (for schools)
● Humanists International 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗
● Conway Hall Ethical Society 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗
● Humanism in Scotland
● American Humanist Association (US)

Secularism

● National Secular Society (UK) 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗
● National Secular Society facts for kids
● The Secular Hub (US)

Scepticism

● Center for Inquiry, US 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗
● Center for Inquiry Videos

Humanism and Religion

While mainsteam Humanists are essentially secularists and atheists, the biologist Stephen Jay Gould has championed the idea that religion and science can be reconciled through a concept he calls 'Non-Overlapping Magisteria' (NOMA). The idea is that science deals with explanation of phenomena while religion is concerned with meaning, purpose, values, and ethics. Needless to say this is a very controversial idea with Richard Dawkins pointing out that fundamentalist Christians consistently fail to keep to their side of the line!

● Prefixed Humanisms
● The Case for Christian Humanism
● Is Faith 'Believing six impossible things before breakfast'?
● NOMA: Non-overlapping Magisteria
● Videos on Stephen Jay Gould's Theory of Non-overlapping Magisteria
● Non-Overlapping Magisteria (NOMA)
● Non-overlapping magisteria
● Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association
● The Problem of Religious Revelation — It is argued here that the religious believer and the non-believer are in the same boat when it comes to developing an ethical stance. Religion gives you no advantage.

Humanist Philosophy

● How Do Humanists Find Meaning, Purpose, Values, and Morals in Life?---Steven Schafersman
● Living Like a Humanist---by Bill Cooke
● Affirmations: Joyful and Creative Exuberance by Paul Kurtz (Book Review)
● In Defense of Eupraxophy---by Paul Kurtz
● Eupraxsophy Revisited---by Paul Kurtz
● Re-enchantment: A New Enlightenment---by Paul Kurtz
● Secular Humanism: a New Approach---by Paul Kurtz
● Where Do We Go From Here?---by Paul Kurtz
● A Human Politics---Transcript of a radio discussion chaired by Kenan Malik