Humanism Essay Research Paper Kevin Clark

Humanism Essay, Research Paper

Kevin Clark

Philosophy p.2

Humanism

The word .humanism. has a number of meanings, and because there are so many

different meanings it can be quite confusing if you don.t know what kind of humanism

someone is talking about.

Literary Humanism is a devotion to the humanities or literary culture.

Renaissance Humanism is the spirit of learning that developed at the end of the middle

ages with the revival of classical letters and a renewed confidence in the ability of human

beings to determine for themselves truth and falsehood.

Cultural Humanism is the rational and empirical tradition that originated largely in

ancient Greece and Rome, evolved through out European history, and now constitutes a

basic part of the Western approach to science, political theory, ethics, and law.

Philosophical Humanism is any outlook or way of life centered on human need and

interest. Sub categories of this type include the two following.

Christian Humanism is defined by Webster.s Third New International Dictionary

as .a philosophy advocating the self fulfillment of man within the framework of

Christian principles.. This more human oriented faith is largely a product of the

Renaissance and is a part of what made up Renaissance humanism.

Modern Humanism, also called Naturalistic Humanism, Scien- tific Humanism,

Ethical Humanism and Democratic Humanism is defined by one of its leading

proponents, Corollas Lamont, as .a naturalistic philosophy that rejects all

supernaturalism and relies primarily upon reason and science, democracy and

human compassion.. Modern Humanism has a dual origin, both secular and

religious, and these constitute its sub categories.

Secular Humanism is an outgrowth of 18th century enlightenment

rationalism and 19th century freethought. Many secular groups, such as

the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism and the American

Rationalist Federation, and many otherwise unaffiliated academic

philosophers and scientists advocate this philosophy.

Religious Humanism emerged out of Ethical Culture, Unitarianism, and

Universalism. Today, many Unitarian- Universalist congregations and all

Ethical Culture societies describe themselves as humanist in the modern

sense.

The most critical irony in dealing with Modern Humanism is the inability of its

supporters to agree on whether or not this world veiw is religious. The Secular Humanists

believe it is a philosophy, where the Religious Humanists obviously believe it is a religion.

This has been going on since the early years of the century where the Secular and

Religious traditions combined and made Modern Humanism.

Secular and Religious Humanists both share the same world views as shown by the

signing of the Humanist Manifestos I and II. The signers of the Manifestos were both

Secular and Religious Humanists.

To serve personal needs, Religious Humanism offers a basis for moral values, an

inspiring set of ideals , methods for dealing with life.s harsher realities, a rational for living

life joyously, and an overall sense of purpose.

To serve social needs, Humanist religious communities offer a sense of belonging, an

institutional setting for the moral education of children, special holidays shared with like

minded people, a unique ceremonial life, the performance of ideologically consistent rites

of passage (weddings, child welcomings, coming of age celebrations, funerals, etc.), an

opportunity for affirmation of one.s philosophy of life, and a historical context for one.s

ideas.

Religious Humanists maintain that most human beings have personal a social needs that

can only be met by humanism. They do not feel that one should have to make a choice

between meeting these needs in a traditional faith context versus not meeting them at all.

Individuals who cannot feel at home in traditional religion should be able to find a home in

non traditional religion.

A popular example of Secular Humanists views of the world was said by author Salman

Rushdie on ABC.s .Nightline. on February 13, 1989.

[My book says] that there is an old, old conflict between the secular view

of the world and the religious view of the world, and particularly between

texts which claim to be divinely inspired and texts which are imaginatively

inspired…..I distrust people who claim to know the whole truth and who

seek to orchestrate the world in line with that one truth. I think that.s a

very dangerous position in the world. It needs to be challenged. It needs

to be challenged constantly in all sorts of ways, and that.s what I tried to

do.

The Secular Humanist have been known for defiance, a defiance that dates back to

ancient Greece. Humanist themes that are shown in Greek mythology are rarely ever

shown in the mythologies of other cultures. And they are certainly not shown in modern

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