Humanism

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

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

Renaissance humanism came out of Christianity but modern secular humanism developed partly from the Enlightenment and the growth of scientific thinking. It became increasingly associated with the view that morality and knowledge could be understood without recourse to supernatural beliefs.

But is humanism necessarily opposed to all religion or is there a way of reconciling them?

Do humanists have faith in anything at all?

How is it possible without the supernatural to find meaning and purpose in life?

Can a humanist be happy and hopeful or is humanism a stark and pessimistic philosophy?