Humanism

Humanism

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"Humanistic" redirects here. For the album, see Humanistic (album).

This article is about human-centred philosophy. For other uses, see Humanism (disambiguation).

It has been suggested that Humanism (philosophy of education) be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since July 2013.

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Humanism

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Outline of humanism

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Humanism in Germany

Humanism in France

Humanist Manifesto

Secular humanism

Council for Secular Humanism

A Secular Humanist Declaration

Amsterdam Declaration

Religious humanism

Christian Jewish Buddhist

Organizations

International Humanist and

Ethical Union (IHEU)

American Humanist Association

British Humanist Association

National Secular Society

Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands

Related articles

Ethical culture

Marxist humanism

Deistic humanism

Cosmic humanism

Existential humanism

Neohumanism

Rationalist humanism

Integral humanism

Transhumanism

Personism

Posthumanism

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Humanism is a group of philosophies and ethical perspectives which emphasize the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers individual thought and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over established doctrine or faith (fideism). The term humanism can be ambiguously diverse, and there has been a persistent confusion between several related uses of the term because different intellectual movements have identified with it over time.[1] In philosophy and social science, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of a "human nature" (contrasted with anti-humanism). In modern times, many humanist movements have become strongly aligned with secularism, with the term Humanism often used as a byword for non-theistic beliefs about ideas such as meaning and purpose; however, many early humanists, such as Ulrich von Hutten, a strong supporter of Martin Luther and the Reformation, were religious.

Before the word was associated with secularism, German historian and philologist Georg Voigt used humanism in 1856 to describe the movement that flourished in the Italian Renaissance to revive classical learning; this definition won wide acceptance.[2] During the Renaissance period in Western Europe, humanist movements attempted to demonstrate the benefit of gaining learning from classical, pre-Christian sources in and of themselves, or for secular ends such as political science and rhetoric. The word "humanist" derives from the 15th-century Italian term umanista describing a teacher or scholar of classical Greek and Latin literature and the ethical philosophy behind it, including the approach to the humanities.[3][4]

During the French Revolution, and soon after in Germany (by the Left Hegelians), humanism began to refer to philosophies and morality centred on human kind, without attention to any notions of the divine. Religious humanism developed as more liberal religious organisations evolved in more humanistic directions. Religious humanism integrates humanist ethical philosophy with the rituals and beliefs of some religions, although religious humanism still centres on human needs, interests, and abilities.[5]

As the ethical movement began using the word in the 1930s, the term "humanism" became increasingly associated with philosophical naturalism, and with secularism and the secularisation of society. The first Humanist Manifesto, formalised at the University of

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