1.
Humanism
–
The term was coined in 1808 by the early nineteenth century German educational reformer and theologian Friedrich Niethammer and gradually adopted into English. Niethammer had wished to introduce into German education the humane values of ancient Greece, the word Humanism is ultimately derived from the Latin concept humanitas, and, like most other words ending in -ism, entered English in the nineteenth century. Those who earnestly desire and seek after these are most highly humanized. For the desire to pursue of that kind of knowledge, and the training given by it, has granted to humanity alone of all the animals. Gellius says that in his day humanitas is commonly used as a synonym for philanthropy – or kindness and he himself was involved in public affairs. By assigning pride of place to Paideia in his comment on the etymology of humanitas, gelliuss writings fell into obscurity during the middle ages, but during the Italian Renaissance, Gellius became a favorite author. Teachers and scholars of Greek and Latin grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, during the French Revolution, and soon after, in Germany, humanism began to refer to an ethical philosophy centered on humankind, without attention to the transcendent or supernatural. The designation Religious Humanism refers to organized groups that sprang up during the late-nineteenth and it is similar to Protestantism, although centered on human needs, interests, and abilities rather than the supernatural. The first Humanist Manifesto was issued by a conference held at the University of Chicago in 1933, signatories included the philosopher John Dewey, but the majority were ministers and theologians. But in the century, during the French Enlightenment, a more ideological use of the term had come into use. In 1765, the author of an article in a French Enlightenment periodical spoke of The general love of humanity. A virtue hitherto quite nameless among us, and which we will venture to call humanism, for the time has come to create a word for such a beautiful and necessary thing. The latter part of the 18th and the early 19th centuries saw the creation of numerous philanthropic and benevolent societies dedicated to human betterment. Humanism began to acquire a negative sense, the Oxford English Dictionary records the use of the word humanism by an English clergyman in 1812 to indicate those who believe in the mere humanity of Christ, i. e. Unitarians and Deists. Human-centered philosophy that rejected the supernatural may also be found circa 1500 BCE in the Lokayata system of Indian philosophy, nasadiya Sukta, a passage in the Rig Veda, contains one of the first recorded assertions of agnosticism. Another instance of ancient humanism as a system of thought is found in the Gathas of Zarathustra. Zarathustras philosophy in the Gathas lays out a conception of humankind as thinking beings, dignified with choice, in China, Yellow Emperor is regarded as the humanistic primogenitor. Sage kings such as Yao and Shun are humanistic figures as recorded, king Wu of Zhou has the famous saying, Humanity is the Ling of the world
2.
Renaissance humanism
–
Renaissance humanism is the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The term Renaissance humanism is contemporary to that period — Renaissance, Renaissance humanism was a response to the utilitarian approach and what came to be depicted as the narrow pedantry associated with medieval scholasticism. This was to be accomplished through the study of the studia humanitatis, today known as the humanities, grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy. Humanism was a cultural mode and not the program of a small elite, a program to revive the cultural legacy, literary legacy. There were important centres of humanism in Florence, Naples, Rome, Venice, Genoa, Mantua, Ferrara, some of the first humanists were great collectors of antique manuscripts, including Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Coluccio Salutati, and Poggio Bracciolini. Of the four, Petrarch was dubbed the Father of Humanism because of his devotion to Greek, some of the highest officials of the Catholic Church were humanists with the resources to amass important libraries. Such was Cardinal Basilios Bessarion, a convert to the Catholic Church from Greek Orthodoxy, who was considered for the papacy, and was one of the most learned scholars of his time. There were several 15th-century and early 16th-century humanist Popes one of whom, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, was a prolific author and these subjects came to be known as the humanities, and the movement which they inspired is shown as humanism. They included Gemistus Pletho, George of Trebizond, Theodorus Gaza, budé was a royal absolutist who was active in civic life, serving as a diplomat for François I and helping to found the Collège des Lecteurs Royaux. Many humanists were churchmen, most notably Pope Pius II, Sixtus IV, and Leo X, humanity—with all its distinct capabilities, talents, worries, problems, possibilities—was the center of interest. It has been said that medieval thinkers philosophised on their knees, inevitably, the rediscovery of classical philosophy and science would eventually challenge traditional religious beliefs. Lorenzo Valla, however, puts a defense of epicureanism in the mouth of one of the interlocutors of one of his dialogues. And if it is names that bother us, no one deserves the name of Epicurean than the revered founder and head of the Christian philosophy Christ. Completely mistaken, therefore, are those who talk in their foolish fashion about Christs having been sad and gloomy in character, on the contrary, he alone shows the most enjoyable life of all and the one most full of true pleasure. This passage exemplifies the way in which the humanists saw pagan classical works, such as the philosophy of Epicurus, Renaissance Neo-Platonists such as Marsilio Ficino attempted to reconcile Platonism with Christianity, according to the suggestions of early Church fathers Lactantius and Saint Augustine. In this spirit, Pico della Mirandola attempted to construct a syncretism of all religions, historian Steven Kreis expresses a widespread view, when he writes that, The period from the fourteenth century to the seventeenth worked in favor of the general emancipation of the individual. The city-states of northern Italy had come into contact with the customs of the East. The writings of Dante, and particularly the doctrines of Petrarch and humanists like Machiavelli, emphasized the virtues of intellectual freedom, in the essays of Montaigne the individualistic view of life received perhaps the most persuasive and eloquent statement in the history of literature and philosophy
3.
Renaissance humanism in Northern Europe
–
Humanism may be dated from the invention of the printing press about 1450. Marked features distinguished the new culture north of the Alps from the culture of the Italians, the university and school played a much more important part than in the South according to Catholic historians. The representatives of the new scholarship were teachers, even Erasmus taught in Cambridge and was on terms with the professors at Basel. During the progress of the movement new universities sprang up, from Basel to Rostock, again, in Germany, there were no princely patrons of arts and learning to be compared in intelligence and munificence to the Renaissance popes and the Medici. Nor was the new culture here exclusive and aristocratic and it sought the general spread of intelligence, and was active in the development of primary and grammar schools. In the Humanistic movement, the German people was far from being a slavish imitator and it received an impulse from the South, but made its own path. In the North, Humanism entered into the service of religious progress, German scholars were less brilliant and elegant, but more serious in their purpose and more exact in their scholarship than their Italian predecessors and contemporaries. In the South, the ancient classics absorbed the attention of the literati and it was not so in the North. There was no consuming passion to render the classics into German as there had been in Italy, nor did Italian literature, with its often relaxed moral attitude, find imitators in the North. Boccaccio’s Decameron was first translated into German by the physician, Henry Stainhowel, North of the Alps, attention was chiefly centred on the Old and New Testaments. Greek and Hebrew were studied, not with the purpose of ministering to a cult of antiquity, in this way, preparation was made for the work of the Protestant Reformation. This focus on translation was a feature of the Christian humanists who helped to launch the new, post-scholastic era, among them Erasmus and Luther. In so doing, they also placed biblical texts above any human or institutional authority, what was true of the scholarship of Germany was also true of its art. Dürer and Holbein had close contacts with leading humanists, cranach lived in Wittenberg after 1504 and painted portraits of Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon and other leaders of the German Reformation. Holbein made frontispieces and illustrations for Protestant books and painted portraits of Erasmus, if any one individual more than another may be designated as the connecting link between the learning of Italy and Germany, it is Aeneas Sylvius. By his residence at the court of Frederick III and at Basel, as one of the secretaries of the council, the mediation, however, was not effected by any single individual. The fame of the Renaissance was carried over the pathways of trade which led from Northern Italy to Augsburg, Nuremberg, Konstanz, a constant stream of pilgrims travelled to Rome and the Spanish popes drew to the city throngs of Spaniards. As the fame of Italian culture spread, scholars and artists began to travel to Venice, Florence and Rome, to the Italians, Germany was a land of barbarians
4.
Humanism in France
–
Humanism in France found its way from Italy, but did not become a distinct movement until the 16th century was well on its way. On the completion of the Hundred Years War between France and England, the currents of humanism began to start. In 1464, Peter Raoul composed for the Duke of Burgundy a history of Troy, at that time the French still regarded themselves as descendants of Hector. If we except Paris, none of the French universities took part in the movement, individual writers and printing-presses at Paris, Lyon, Rouen and other cities became its centres and sources. William Fichet and Robert Gaguin are usually looked upon as the first French Humanists, Fichet introduced the eloquence of Rome at Paris and set up a press at the Sorbonne. He corresponded with Bessarion and had in his volumes of Petrarch, Guarino of Verona. Gaguin copied and corrected Suetonius in 1468 and other Latin authors, poggios Jest-book and some of Vallas writings were translated into French. In the reign of Louis XI, who gloried in the title the first Christian king, the homage of royalty took in part the place among the literary men of France that the cult of antiquity occupied in Italy. An impetus was given to the new studies by the Italian, Aleander and he lectured in Paris,1509, on Plato and issued a Latino-Greek lexicon. In 1512 his pupil, Vatable, published the Greek grammar of Chrysoloras, budaeus, perhaps the foremost Greek scholar of his day, founded the Collège de France,1530, and finally induced Francis I to provide for instruction in Hebrew and Greek. Budaeus urged the combination of the study of the Scriptures with the study of the classics and exclaimed of the Gospel of John, What is it, if not the almost perfect sanctuary of the truth. Jacques Lefèvre dÉtaples studied in Paris, Pavia, Padua and Cologne and, for longer or shorter periods and he knew Greek and some Hebrew. From 1492–1506 he was engaged in editing the works of Aristotle and Raymundus Lullus and then, under the protection of Guillaume Briçonnet, bishop of Meaux and it was his purpose to offset the Sentences of Peter the Lombard by a system of theology giving only what the Scriptures teach. In 1509, he published the Psalterum quintuplex, a combination of five Latin versions of the Psalms, including a revision, in 1512, he issued a revised Latin translation of the Pauline Epistles with commentary. In this work, he asserted the authority of the Bible and the doctrine of justification by faith, without appreciating, however, three years after the appearance of Luthers New Testament, Lefevres French translation appeared,1523. It was made from the Vulgate, as was his translation of the Old Testament,1528, in 1522 and 1525, appeared his commentaries on the four Gospels and the Catholic Epistles. The former was put on the Index by the Sorbonne, among those who came into contact with Lefevre were Farel and Calvin, the Reformers of Geneva. In the meantime Clément Marot, 1495–1544, the first true poet of the French literary revival, was composing his French versification of the Psalms, the Psalms were sung for pleasure by French princes and later for worship in Geneva and by the Huguenots
5.
Humanist Manifesto
–
Humanist Manifesto is the title of three manifestos laying out a Humanist worldview. They are the original Humanist Manifesto, the Humanist Manifesto II, the Manifesto originally arose from religious Humanism, though secular Humanists also signed. Each has been signed at its launch by various prominent members of academia, in addition, there is a similar document entitled A Secular Humanist Declaration published in 1980 by the Council for Secular Humanism. The first manifesto, entitled simply A Humanist Manifesto, was written in 1933 primarily by Roy Wood Sellars, the title A Humanist Manifesto—rather than The Humanist Manifesto—was intentional, predictive of later Manifestos to follow, as indeed has been the case. Unlike the creeds of major organized religions, the out of Humanist ideals in these Manifestos is an ongoing process. The second Manifesto was written in 1973 by Paul Kurtz and Edwin H. Wilson, nevertheless, much of the unbridled optimism of the first remained, with hopes stated that war would become obsolete and poverty would be eliminated. Furthermore, its proposal of a court has since been implemented. However, in addition to its rejection of supernaturalism, various controversial stances are strongly supported, initially published with a small number of signatures, the document was circulated and gained thousands more, and indeed the AHA website encourages visitors to add their own name. A provision at the end noted that signators do not necessarily endors every detail of the document, Humanism and Its Aspirations, subtitled Humanist Manifesto III, a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933, was published in 2003 by the AHA, and was written by committee. The new document is the successor to the ones. Humans are a part of nature, the result of evolutionary change. Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience, life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals. Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships, working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness. Humanist Manifesto is a trademark of the AHA, formulation of new statements in emulation of the three Humanist Manifestoes is encouraged, and examples follow. The document was issued in 1980 by the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism, compiled by Paul Kurtz, it is largely a restatement of the content of the American Humanist Associations 1973 Humanist Manifesto II, of which he was co-author with Edwin H. Wilson. Both Wilson and Kurtz had served as editors of The Humanist, from which Kurtz departed in 1979 and thereafter set about establishing his own movement and his Secular Humanist Declaration was the starting point for these enterprises. Humanist Manifesto 2000, A Call for New Planetary Humanism is a book by Paul Kurtz published in 2000. It differs from the three in that it is a full-length book rather than essay-length, and was published not by the American Humanist Association
6.
Secular humanism
–
Secular humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or a god. It does not, however, assume that humans are inherently evil or innately good. Rather, the humanist life stance emphasizes the unique responsibility facing humanity, along with this, an essential part of secular humanism is a continually adapting search for truth, primarily through science and philosophy. Many secular humanists derive their moral codes from a philosophy of utilitarianism, ethical naturalism, or evolutionary ethics, the Happy Human is the official symbol of the IHEU as well as being regarded as a universally recognised symbol for those who call themselves Humanists. Secular humanist organizations are found in all parts of the world and those who call themselves humanists are estimated to number between four and five million people worldwide. The meaning of the phrase secular humanism has evolved over time, the phrase has been used since at least the 1930s, and in 1943, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, was reported as warning that the Christian tradition. Was in danger of being undermined by a Secular Humanism which hoped to retain Christian values without Christian faith, the release in 1980 of A Secular Humanist Declaration by the newly formed Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism gave secular humanism an organisational identity within the United States. However, many adherents of the approach reject the use of the secular as obfuscating and confusing. All too often secular humanism is reduced to a sterile outlook consisting of more than secularism slightly broadened by academic ethics. This kind of hyphenated humanism easily becomes more about the adjective than its referent, adherents of this view, including the International Humanist and Ethical Union and the American Humanist Association, consider that the unmodified but capitalised word Humanism should be used. The endorsement by the IHEU of the capitalization of the word Humanism, the American Humanist Association began to adopt this view in 1973, and the IHEU formally endorsed the position in 1989. In 2002 the IHEU General Assembly unanimously adopted the Amsterdam Declaration and this declaration makes exclusive use of capitalized Humanist and Humanism, which is consistent with IHEUs general practice and recommendations for promoting a unified Humanist identity. To further promote Humanist identity, these words are also free of any adjectives, such usage is not universal among IHEU member organizations, though most of them do observe these conventions. Historical use of the humanism, is related to the writings of pre-Socratic philosophers. These writings were lost to European societies until Renaissance scholars rediscovered them through Muslim sources, in 1851 George Holyoake coined the term secularism to describe a form of opinion which concerns itself only with questions, the issues of which can be tested by the experience of this life. The modern secular movement coalesced around Holyoake, Charles Bradlaugh and their intellectual circle, the first secular society, the Leicester Secular Society, dates from 1851. Similar regional societies came together to form the National Secular Society in 1866, holyoakes secularism was strongly influenced by Auguste Comte, the founder of positivism and of modern sociology. Comte believed human history would progress in a law of three stages from a phase, to the metaphysical, toward a fully rational positivist society
7.
Center for Inquiry
–
The Center for Inquiry is a nonprofit educational organization. Its primary mission is to foster a society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry. CFI has headquarters in the United States and a number of locations around the world, the organization has been described as a think tank and as a non-governmental organization. In January 2016, the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science announced that it was merging with the Center for Inquiry, the Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by philosopher and author Paul Kurtz. It brought together two organizations, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal and the Council for Secular Humanism, CSICOP and CSH had previously operated in tandem but were now formally affiliated under one umbrella. By 1995 CFI had expanded into a new headquarters in Amherst, New York, in the same year, CFI founded the Campus Freethought Alliance, organizing college students around its areas of interest. By 1997 CFI had begun expanding its efforts internationally through an association with Moscow State University, between 2002 and 2003 CFI opened two new branches in New York City and Tampa, Florida in addition to expanding its west coast branch into a new building in Hollywood, California. Located on Hollywood Boulevard, CFI West also became home to the Steve Allen Theater, named after the former Tonight Show host, in 2004, CFI continued to expand into cities across the United States with the creation of a network of community organizations called CFI Communities. In 2005 CFI once again expanded its Amherst headquarters with a new research wing, additionally, CFI was granted special consultative status with the United Nations the same year. Since 2006 CFI has been expanding rapidly with a series of new branches in cities across North America and these include new Centers for Inquiry in Toronto, London, Washington, D. C. Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Austin, Texas, the branch in Washington is headquarters to CFIs Office of Public Policy, which represents CFIs interests on Capitol Hill. In January 2016, CFI announced that it was merging with the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, according to Paul Kurtz, in June 2009, being at odds with new CEO Ronald Lindsay, Kurtz was voted out as chairman. Kurtz has described the direction of CFI under Lindsay as angry atheism in contrast to his affirmative humanist philosophical approach. The Center for Inquiry Board Statement from 2010, thanks Kurtz for his decades of service and claims that Much of CFI’s success is due to Paul Kurtz’s inspiration and leadership. The release states that with Kurtzs encouragement, new leadership was sought out, the Board according to CFI prior to 2010 had become concerned with Kurtzs day-to-day management of the organization. In June 2008, the board appointed Dr. Ronald A. Lindsay president & CEO, in June 2009, in May 2010, the Board accepted Kurtzs resignation from CFI. It also explores the fringes and borderlands of the sciences, attempting to separate strictly evidence-based research from pseudosciences, CSICOP was, alongside magician and prominent skeptic James Randi, sued by TV celebrity Uri Geller in the 1990s over claims made in the International Herald Tribune. The case ran for years with Geller ordered to pay costs and other charges
8.
Amsterdam Declaration
–
According to the IHEU, the declaration is the official statement of World Humanism. This declaration makes exclusive use of capitalized Humanist and Humanism, which is consistent with IHEUs general practice, to further promote Humanist identity, these words are also free of any adjectives, as recommended by prominent members of IHEU. Such usage is not universal among IHEU member organizations, though most of them do observe these conventions, the official defining statement of World Humanism is, Humanism is ethical. It affirms the worth, dignity and autonomy of the individual, Humanists have a duty of care to all humanity including future generations. Humanists believe that morality is an part of human nature based on understanding. It seeks to use science creatively, not destructively, Humanists believe that the solutions to the world’s problems lie in human thought and action rather than divine intervention. Humanism advocates the application of the methods of science and free inquiry to the problems of human welfare, but Humanists also believe that the application of science and technology must be tempered by human values. Science gives us the means but human values must propose the ends, Humanism supports democracy and human rights. Humanism aims at the fullest possible development of human being. It holds that democracy and human development are matters of right, the principles of democracy and human rights can be applied to many human relationships and are not restricted to methods of government. Humanism insists that personal liberty must be combined with social responsibility, Humanism ventures to build a world on the idea of the free person responsible to society, and recognizes our dependence and responsibility for the natural world. Humanism is undogmatic, imposing no creed upon its adherents and it is thus committed to education free from indoctrination. Humanism is a response to the demand for an alternative to dogmatic religion. The world’s major religions claim to be based on revelations fixed for all time, Humanism recognizes that reliable knowledge of the world and ourselves arises through a continuing process of observation, evaluation and revision. Humanism values artistic creativity and imagination and recognises the transforming power of art, Humanism affirms the importance of literature, music, and the visual and performing arts for personal development and fulfilment. Humanism can be a way of life for everyone everywhere, the Amsterdam Declaration explicitly states that Humanism rejects dogma, and imposes no creed upon its adherents. At the first World Humanist Congress in the Netherlands in 1952, at the 50th anniversary World Humanist Congress in 2002, the IHEU general assembly unanimously passed a resolution updating that declaration - The Amsterdam Declaration 2002. It is recommended usage and the normal usage within IHEU—Jeremy Webbs, IHEU webmaster, from a response to a Wikipedia editor inquiry, ^ Humanism is Eight Letters, No More—endorsed by Harold John Blackham, Levi Fragell, Corliss Lamont, Harry Stopes-Roe and Rob Tielman
