Classical humanism (or Renaissance humanism) is a movement in which man, by studying ancient literature, sought to improve his nature. This is the origin of humanism as a movement, a system of beliefs and a direction of human thought. Classical humanism created a whole revolution in philosophy, enlightenment and worldview of contemporaries.
Humanism as a philosophy is a worldview and way of life based on naturalism (the belief that the universe/nature is everything that exists, that is real). It is a rational philosophy, inspired by art, motivated by compassion, and informed by science.
Humanistic - imbued with the spirit of humanism; for example: humanistic attitude towards people, humanistic ideas.
Synonyms for the word humanism: philanthropy, humanity, humanity.
What are values
Values are ideas that help us act. In this they are similar to plans, goals, fears, intentions, policies, etc. These are all ideas that lead us to action.
Among these ideas, some values relate only to the ways we act, not to consequences (as to plans, goals and fears) or the simple fact of how they work (as to intentions and policies).
There is no specific way to divide values, but there is a partial taxonomy here. For example, there are values associated with attitudes towards other people, with actions, with attitudes towards things.
Personality
The humanistic approach to man and personality psychology described in the mentioned theory has been deeply analyzed by scientific psychologists. Of course, it cannot be said that this area has been completely explored, but significant theoretical research has been done in it.
This direction of psychology arose as a kind of alternative concept to the current that fully or partially identifies human psychology and animal behavior. Personality theory, considered from the point of view of humanistic traditions, is classified as psychodynamic (at the same time, interactionist). This is not an experimental branch of psychology, which has a structural-dynamic organization and covers the entire period of a person’s life. She describes him as a person, using terms of internal properties and characteristics, as well as behavioral terms.
Proponents of the theory that considers personality in a humanistic approach are primarily interested in a person’s perception, understanding and explanation of the real events of his life. Preference is given to the phenomenology of personality rather than the search for explanations. Therefore, this type of theory is often called phenomenological. The very description of a person and events in his life focuses mainly on the present and is described in the following terms: “life goals”, “meaning of life”, “values”, etc.
The concept of humanism
It can be seen as a worldview or a way of life, as a more or less unquestionable doctrine. Collectively, it represents a set of beliefs and values that are a way of looking at the world—a philosophy by which many people live their lives.
The word "humanism" is used in many different ways - it was coined in the eighteenth century to describe the revival of classical learning during the Renaissance, is associated with the idea of the humanities, and only came to be applied to the current kind of non-religious lifestyle in the early twentieth century. The meaning of words is determined by their use, and the organized humanist movement does not have a monopoly on the use of the word "humanism."
Content
- 1 The nature of humanism
- 2 Branches of humanism
- 3 Humanistic positions 3.1 Religious humanistic positions 3.1.1 Supports
- 3.1.2 Rejects
- 3.2.1 Supports
- 6.1 Religious humanistic beliefs
- 7.1 Humanistic virtues and values
- 11.1 Leaders of Humanism
Humanism and morality
One of the key ideas held by representatives of the humanistic movement is that people are part of human nature, moral beings. On the other hand, people are not moral in the sense of goodness, but all of them, with the exception of psychopaths and extremely autistic people, have the ability to think morally and cannot avoid it. What is called morality (the idea of right or wrong) simply arises from human nature.
In fact, humanism is an alternative to religion, which performs the same function as the latter. It allows a person to shape his attitude towards the world.
Humanists
List of humanists
Leaders of Humanism
People who had a major influence on the development or promotion of humanism:
- Charles Francis Potter -
- Julian Huxley -
- John Dewey -
- Albert Einstein -
- Thomas Mann -
- FCS Schiller –
- Raymond B. Bragg -
- Roy Wood Sellars -
- Isaac Asimov -
- Kurt Vonnegut -
- Pico della Mirandola –
- Petrarch –
Other famous humanists
- Philip Adams -
- Steve Allen -
- Sir Arthur Clarke -
- Richard Dawkins -
- Gareth Evans -
- Richard Feynman -
- Tim Flannery -
- E. M. Forster (see in particular “What I Believe”) –
- William Hayden -
- Thomas Jefferson -
- Paul Kurtz -
- Philip Nitschke -
- Philip Pullman -
- Gene Roddenberry -
- Bertrand Russell -
- Carl Sagan -
- John Ralston Saul -
- Michael Shermer -
- Peter Singer -
- Barbara Smoker -
- Ibn Warraq -
- Robin Williams -
- E. O. Wilson -
Intelligence
One of the core humanistic values is the importance placed on truth and rational thought as the only proven way to provide knowledge of the facts of the universe.
Religious people will often give excellent or comforting answers, even if they doubt how true they are, or will rely on unquestioned dogma in the face of evidence that it is clearly false. Often critics of the so-called new atheism dismiss criticism of religion by saying that it relies on religion as a set of assumptions, hypotheses that seem meaningless. Instead, these critics say, religion is a felt experience, a relationship, or something else.
It is difficult for humanists to see the difference, except in comparative antiquity, between mainstream religion and "new age" people who accept mindless nonsense about the healing powers of crystals, about feng shui, astrology or alternative medicine and who refuse to test it in controlled trials. For humanists, faith must be proportionate to evidence. Humanists see the value of skepticism when evidence is inadequate and reject dogma, religious, political or any other kind.
Thus, humanists reject ideas and theories that are not reasonable and do not accept concepts that are not supported by adequate evidence. The goal of humanists is to get as close to the truth as possible. They think it's crazy to believe things without enough evidence.
Recommendations
- "humanism". Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved October 11, 2015. - "Buddhist Humanism | Daisaku Ikeda's website."
- https://zenbuddhisttemple.org/about.html
- https://www.iop.or.jp/0515/ikeda_unger.pdf, page 4
- "Buddhism and Social Action: A Study".
- https://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/syllabi/g/gier/306/gbnd.pdf
- "Buddhism and Human Rights".
- "Secular Ethics Essential for World Peace: The Dalai Lama."
- "Archive copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- https://www.columbia.edu/cu/buddhism/document/tc1996.pdf
- Edworth, Fred (1989). "What is humanism?" American Humanist Association. Archived from the original on January 30, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2009. Secular humanism is a product of eighteenth-century Enlightenment rationalism and nineteenth-century freethinking...Both secular and religious humanists share the same worldview and the same basic principles...In terms of philosophy alone, there is no difference between them. Religious and secular humanists actually disagree only on the definition of religion and the practice of philosophy.
- Compact Oxford English Dictionary
.
Oxford University Press. 2007 humanism paragraph
1 rationalistic system of thinking that gives primary importance to human rather than divine or supernatural issues. - "Definitions of Humanism (subsection)". Institute for Humanistic Studies. Archived from the original on January 18, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
- Rethinking Peter Singer: Christian Criticism
, Gordon R. Preece - Applied Ethics: A Non-Consequentialist Approach
, David S. Oderberg - Humanism and Personalism: The False Philosophy of Peter Singer
, Jenny Teichman - Singer, Peter (October–November 2004). "Taking Humanism Beyond Speciation". Free inquiry
.
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(6): 19–21. Retrieved February 16, 2012. - Hayles, N. Catherine (1999). How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Computer Science
. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-32146-0. - World Transhumanist Association (2002–2005). "Transhumanist FAQ" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 31, 2006. Retrieved August 27, 2006. Magazine Citation Requires | log = (help)
The role of science
Science is simply the best, almost the only, way to know for sure about the world, but its answers are always provisional, always open to reexamination in the light of new evidence. They are not eternal truths, never irrefutable. Newton's laws were overthrown by Einstein; Einstein's theories cannot account for quantum physics; String theory may undo current ideas.
What science gives is not the truth, but a gradual approach to the truth. Science refuses to accept dogma, refuses to allow anything to be certain, admits that it can make mistakes, but contains its own means for correcting them. Of course, scientists can make mistakes, but this is human error, not an error in the method. And this spirit of open-minded, intelligent inquiry is an important part of humanistic ideas.
Morals and ethics
Human moral instincts are not necessarily a guide to how to behave, but they are a good starting point because they arise from patterns of behavior that promote group survival that have been shaped, developed, and adapted over thousands of years by moral philosophy and practical reasoning.
But circumstances change situations, and specific formulations of morals and ethics may become outdated. People have a responsibility to maintain morality. The purpose of morality, as humanists see it, is not to conform to some model. It exists to serve man.
Moral meaning, along with beliefs, provides the basis for ethics, within which humanists may apply utilitarian ethics or virtue ethics, or may take any number of positions. However, humanistic morality does not go so far as to establish fixed rules. This requires people to make judgments within the circumstances of each situation. This flexibility, this commitment to dialogue and ethical discourse is fundamental to humanistic moral values. They play a big role in the formation of personality.
Thus, humanistic morality gives value and meaning to the individual. The interdependence of the individual and society implies a person's responsibility towards society - individual responsibility for his behavior as it affects society.
Main types
Initially, the humanistic movement evolved and divided precisely in the light of its attitude towards religion - one can trace the chain from the thinkers of the Renaissance combining Stoicism and Christianity to the militant atheist philosophers of the New Age. However, in the last century other directions also took final shape. Let's look at the most famous of them.
Literary
It is understood as the embodiment of these ideas through literary creativity. The authors bring them to the reader through the creation of images, plots, trying to convey the corresponding values to him or by making him think about their relevance.
Cultural
This is sometimes the name given to the ancient philosophical heritage, which originates in the Greco-Roman civilization. It was its reception during the Renaissance that laid the basis for the evolution and establishment of humanistic ideals in the modern sense.
Philosophical
This term can be used to refer to a worldview base or an ideological foundation for the practical implementation of humanistic ideas. The primary basis here is considered to be the work of ancient Greek philosophers.
Religious
Supporters of this movement strive to create a universal ethics, a kind of religion without revelation and mysticism, aimed at the practical solution of earthly issues. However, the term is often given another meaning - the understanding of religious teachings as a source of humanism, the affirmation of the absolute value of the human being as God's creation.
Secular
Perhaps the most famous direction. Its proponents believe it is possible to lead an ethical and moral life without relying on religious morality or commandments. Also characteristic is a belief in progress, the power of science and a consistent struggle for secularism - the separation of religion and its institutions from the state.
People's
A rather rare definition. They sometimes mark humanistic ideas that have specificity, which is determined by the mentality of a particular people or ethnic group. In practice, it can intersect with the religious or literary, reflecting the characteristics and beliefs of a particular society.
Human rights
This includes the movement to protect individual rights and freedoms in the public, political and private spheres. Activists strive to defend the interests of citizens who find themselves in a vulnerable position in terms of interaction with authorities or oppressed by other people.
Pacifist
The humanistic movement is characterized by a negative attitude towards violence in general. But pacifists place special emphasis on the fight against wars and other armed conflicts. The need to resolve political and social contradictions through negotiations is declared. Pacifists began to gain strength in the mid-twentieth century against the backdrop of the Vietnam War.
Public
In many ways it overlaps with human rights and is sometimes difficult to distinguish one from the other. The emphasis is on comprehensive work in order to improve the morals and moral and ethical state of society as a whole. Activists are engaged in volunteer and charitable activities.
Spirituality
This concept is quite controversial for humanists, since they reject the existence of a transcendental kingdom, souls and spirits. However, this experience is still very real, even if it is of natural origin. The fact is that the mystical feeling of expansion, union, has no specific intellectual content. In addition, one must take into account the breadth of the humanist tradition, represented by some thinkers who are recognized as representatives of humanism, although this concept did not exist previously. This tradition includes Confucius, Epicurus, the Stoic Marcus Aurelius, David Hume, John Locke, the French philosophers, Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft, George Eliot. Accordingly, spirituality should be seen as an important part of the humanistic value system.
Organizations
- American Humanist Association -
- Council of Secular Humanism –
- Human-Etisk Forbund – Norwegian Humanist Association
- Humanist Association of Canada –
- Humanist Association of Ireland –
- Humanist International –
- Humanistic movement -
- Humanist Party –
- Humanist Society of Scotland -
- Humanists of Great Britain -
- Institute for Humanistic Studies –
- International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) -
- National Secular Society –
- Rationalist International –
- Sidmennt - Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association
For other organizations, see Category:Humanist associations
Rights and dignity
There are a number of other values. The humanist position is that all people have the right to dignity. This statement introduces the key idea that people have the right to life, thereby increasing the value and problems of the universality of rights, the diversity of rights (individual and collective, i.e. groups), their differentiation (civil, religious, intimate). Dignity as a humanistic value opens the door to a variety of human rights. They must become part of world culture, contributing to the formation of a truly human society with rights and dignity equal to all people.
Main features
Today we can talk about the division of the movement into many movements, divided according to religious, political, ideological and ethical reasons. There is also a tendency towards universalism - the desire to create a certain common “humanistic denominator” that takes moral ideals beyond the framework of certain teachings and doctrines.
In general, the basis of the humanistic concept can be reduced to the following main criteria:
- self-sufficiency - freedom from the influence of other doctrines, ideas are born through the moral development of the individual;
- primacy - humanistic values are the main basis of the social structure of society;
- universality - the applicability of ideas to any person and type of social structure.
Human inner world
This concept is considered by both philosophers and psychologists and teachers. It is considered as a subjective reality, that is, everything that is the internal content of psychological activity is characteristic only of one specific person. This determines the individuality and uniqueness of each person. On the other hand, this concept is of great importance when considering the humanistic values of a person.
The formation of the inner world is indirect. This process is associated with certain external conditions. This situation is explained by the fact that the inner world of a person is a specific form of reflection of the external world, which is characterized by its own spatio-temporal characteristics and content.
Some religious and philosophical concepts believe that a person initially has a certain inner world, and during his life his discovery and cognition occurs. Other ideas about this category are based on a more materialistic basis. According to this point of view, the emergence and development of the inner world occurs in the process of formation of a person as an individual, who is characterized by activity associated with the reflection and development of the surrounding reality.
Humanistic values in education
One of the goals of modern education is personal development. Spirituality and morality, related to humanistic values, act as the most important, basic characteristics of a person. In this case, the child acts as the center of spiritual life. Spiritual and moral education is an organized, purposeful process, which represents both external and internal (emotional and heartfelt) influence of the teacher on the spiritual and moral sphere of the developing personality. This area is system-forming in relation to the child’s inner world. Such an impact is determined by its complex, integrated nature in relation to the feelings, desires, and opinions of the individual. It is based on a certain system of humanistic values embedded in the content of education. The actualization of this system is determined by a certain position of the teacher.
Humanistic education
Despite the fact that humanistic values are an integral part of the content of education, their identification does not occur on its own. This process must be purposeful, and the values themselves must be structured, didactically processed, after which the teacher accepts them as a personal value system. And only after that they can be used as a system of value orientations for students, taking into account their age characteristics. Only in this case can they act as the basis for the spiritual and moral education of schoolchildren.
