1.
Humanism
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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
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Renaissance humanism
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Amsterdam Declaration
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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
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Religious humanism
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Religious humanism is an integration of humanist ethical philosophy with religious rituals and beliefs that center on human needs, interests, and abilities. Humanism as it was conceived in the early 20th century rejected revealed knowledge, theism-based morality, the Cult of Reason was an atheist religion devised during the French Revolution by Jacques Hébert, Pierre Gaspard Chaumette and their supporters. In 1793 during the French Revolution, the cathedral Notre Dame de Paris was turned into a Temple to Reason, in the 1850s, Auguste Comte, the Father of Sociology, founded Positivism, a religion of humanity. Auguste Comte was a student and secretary for Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, Auguste Comte coined the term altruism. One of the earliest forerunners of contemporary chartered humanist organizations was the Humanistic Religious Association formed in 1853 in London. This early group was organized, with male and female members participating in the election of the leadership and promoted knowledge of the sciences, philosophy. The Ethical Culture movement was founded in 1876, adler believed that traditional religions would ultimately prove to be incompatible with a scientific worldview. He felt that the aspects of religion should not be allowed to fall by the wayside. Religions provided vital functions in encouraging good works, and religions taught important truths about the world, albeit these truths were expressed through metaphors that were not always suited to modern understandings of the world. For example, monotheistic religions were based on a metaphor of an authoritarian monarchy, initially, Ethical Culture involved little in the way of ceremony and ritual. Rather, Ethical Culture was religious in the sense of playing a role in peoples lives. Some Ethical Societies have subsequently added a degree of ritual as a means of marking special times or providing a tangible reminder of humanistic ideals. Before the term humanism was coined or even thought of being integrated into religion it had existed in America in at least an ideological sense for a very long time. In 1915, a Positivist defined the term humanism in a magazine for the British Ethical Societies, another Unitarian Minister John H. Dietrich read the magazine and adopted the term to describe his own religion. Dietrich is considered by some to be the Father of Religious Humanism particularly for his sermons while serving the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis. In 1929 Charles Francis Potter founded the First Humanist Society of New York whose advisory board included Julian Huxley, John Dewey, Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann. Potter was a minister from the Unitarian tradition and in 1930 he and his wife, Clara Cook Potter, published Humanism, throughout the 1930s Potter was a well known advocate of women’s rights, access to birth control, civil divorce laws, and an end to capital punishment. Unlike the later ones, the first manifesto talked of a new religion, however, it is careful not to outline a creed or dogma
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Humanistic Judaism
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Humanistic Judaism is a Jewish movement that offers a nontheistic alternative in contemporary Jewish life. Biblical and other texts are the products of human activity and are best understood through archaeology. The freedom and dignity of the Jewish people must go hand in hand with the freedom, in its current form, Humanistic Judaism was founded in 1963 by Rabbi Sherwin Wine. This congregation developed into the Birmingham Temple, now in Farmington Hills and it was soon joined by a previously Reform congregation in Illinois, as well as a group in Westport, Connecticut. In 1969, these congregations and others were united organizationally under the umbrella of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, the Society for Humanistic Judaism has 10,000 members in 30 congregations spread throughout the United States and Canada. The International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism was founded in 1986 and it is the academic and intellectual center of Humanistic Judaism. It was established in Jerusalem in 1985 and currently has two centers of activity, one in Jerusalem and the other in Lincolnshire, IL, Rabbi Adam Chalom is the North American dean. The Institute offers professional training programs for Spokespersons, Educators, Leaders, Humanistic Judaism presents a far more radical departure from traditional Jewish religion than Mordecai Kaplan ever envisioned. Kaplan redefined God and other traditional religious terms so as to them consistent with the naturalist outlook. Wine rejected this approach as confusing, since participants could ascribe to these words whatever definitions they favored, Wine strove to achieve philosophical consistency and stability by creating rituals and ceremonies that were purely non-theistic. Humanistic Judaism was developed as a solution to the problem of retaining Jewish identity and continuity among non-religious. The Society for Humanistic Judaism was organized with the mission to mobilize people to celebrate Jewish identity, the moral worth of a marriage always depends on the quality of the human relationship -- on the degree of mutual love and respect that prevails. Secular Humanistic rabbis and leaders will also co-officiate at intercultural marriages between Jews and non-Jews, Humanistic Judaism is egalitarian with respect to gender and gender identification, Jewish status, and sexual orientation. Baby-naming ceremonies, similar for boys and girls, are used rather than the brit milah and those who identify as Jews and those who do not, as well as LGBTI members, may participate in all ways in all Humanistic Jewish rituals and leadership roles. Humanistic Judaism ordains both men and women as rabbis, and its first rabbi was a woman, Tamara Kolton and its first cantor was also a woman, Deborah Davis, ordained in 2001, however, Humanistic Judaism has since stopped ordaining cantors. In 2010 they pledged to speak out against homophobic bullying, Jewish secularism History of the Jews in Metro Detroit Mīmāṃsā, a school of Hindu philosophy, having some similarities in epistemology
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Humanistic Buddhism
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Humanistic Buddhism is a modern philosophy practiced by new religious movements originating from Chinese Buddhism. Humanistic Buddhism places an emphasis on integrating Buddhist practices into everyday life, Taixu, a Buddhist modernist, activist and thinker who advocated the reform and renewal of Chinese Buddhism, used the term Buddhism for Human Life. Taixu also used the term Buddhism for the Human World, or popularly Humanistic Buddhism and it appears that at first the two terms were largely interchangeable. It was Yin Shun, and other disciples of Taixu, who both of these two terms to Taiwan in the wake of the Republicans defeat during the civil war against the Communist Party of China. It was in Taiwan that the term Humanistic Buddhism became the most commonly used term, Humanistic Buddhism is based on 6 core concepts, humanism, altruism, spiritual practices as part of daily life, joyfulness, timeliness, and the universality of saving all beings. In this way, faith in humanity is absolutely central to Buddhism, another aspect of manifesting the teaching of Humanistic Buddhism is the interfaith dialogue and the study of the common tenets of non-violence. Soka Gakkai International teaches that “the Lotus Sutra that leads all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another. And viewed the Buddha as a model for all humanity, “The purpose of the appearance in this world of Shakyamuni Buddha. Yin Shun was the key figure in the exposition of Buddhism. However, he was not particularly active in the social or political spheres of life and this was to be carried out by a younger generation, Hsing Yun, Sheng-yen, Wei Chueh and Cheng Yen. Humanistic Buddhism originated in China at the beginning of the twentieth century, the movement emerged as a collective attempt to emphasize the importance of serving the living in Buddhist practice, rather than placing focus on the traditional Buddhist rituals for the dead. After the Ming Dynasty, penance for the dead had become more widespread, a possible cause for this was Emperor Zhu Yuanzhan’s Buddhist Orders, issued in 1391. These created three categories of the sangha, or monastic class, meditation monks, teaching monks, and these yoga monks were responsible for performing rituals for the dead. This led to certain monks taking on the roles of ‘monks on call’ and these ‘monks on call’ made up a majority of the sangha by the end of the Qing Dynasty. Another possible cause of the rituals for the dead was the spread of Tantric Buddhism following the Yuan Dynasty. Fo Guang Shan is one of the most popular Humanistic Buddhist organizations in present-day China and they have done work to reform and re-invent more traditional ritual practices. They strive to highlight Dharmic aspects of ritual, and tailor their practices and worship to benefit the living, rather than the dead. Humanistic Buddhists believe that death is not an end so much as the beginning of a new life and they also hold ceremonies that celebrate marriage and the happiness of married couples, which are popular worldwide
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New Age
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The New Age is a term applied to a range of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices that developed in Western nations during the 1970s. Precise scholarly definitions of the New Age differ in their emphasis, although analytically often considered to be religious, those involved in it typically prefer the designation of spiritual and rarely use the term New Age themselves. Many scholars of the subject refer to it as the New Age movement, although others contest this term, such prominent occult influences include the work of Emanuel Swedenborg and Franz Mesmer, as well as the ideas of Spiritualism, New Thought, and Theosophy. Although the exact origins of the phenomenon remain contested, it is agreed that it developed in the 1970s and it expanded and grew largely in the 1980s and 1990s, in particular within the United States. By the start of the 21st century, the term New Age was increasingly rejected within this milieu, despite its highly eclectic nature, a number of beliefs commonly found within the New Age have been identified. Theologically, the New Age typically adopts a belief in a form of divinity which imbues all of the universe. There is thus a strong emphasis on the authority of the self. This is accompanied by a belief in a wide variety of semi-divine non-human entities, such as angels and masters, with whom humans can communicate. There is also a focus on healing, particularly using forms of alternative medicine. Those involved in the New Age have been primarily from middle, the New Age has generated criticism from established Christian organisations as well as modern Pagan and indigenous communities. From the 1990s onward, the New Age became the subject of research by scholars of religious studies. The New Age phenomenon has proved difficult to define, with much scholarly disagreement as to its scope, the scholars Steven J. Sutcliffe and Ingvild Sælid Gilhus have even suggested that it remains among the most disputed of categories in the study of religion. According to Hammer, this New Age was a fluid and fuzzy cultic milieu and he thus argued against the idea that the New Age could be considered a unified ideology or Weltanschauung, although he believed that it could be considered a more of less unified movement. Conversely, various scholars have suggested that the New Age is insufficiently homogenous to be regarded as a singular movement. There is no authority within the New Age phenomenon that can determine what counts as New Age. Many of those groups and individuals who could analytically be categorised as part of the New Age reject the term New Age in reference to themselves, some even express active hostility to the term. Rather than terming themselves New Agers, those involved in this milieu commonly describe themselves as spiritual seekers, other figures have argued that the sheer diversity of the New Age renders it too problematic for such use. In discussing the New Age, academics have varyingly referred to New Age spirituality and those involved in the New Age rarely consider it to be religion—negatively associating that term solely with organized religion—and instead describe their practices as spirituality
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Unitarian Universalism
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Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion characterized by a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. The Unitarian Universalist Church does not have a creed, instead, UUs are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth. As such, UU congregations include many agnostics, theists, the roots of UU are in liberal Christianity, specifically Unitarianism and Universalism. Unitarian Universalists state that from these traditions come a deep regard for intellectual freedom, Congregations and members seek inspiration and derive insight from all major world religions. The Unitarian Universalist Association was formed in 1961, a consolidation of the American Unitarian Association, established in 1825, and it is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and serves churches mostly in the United States. A group of thirty Philippine congregations is represented as a member within the UUA. The Canadian Unitarian Council became an independent body in 2002, the UUA and CUC are, in turn, two of the seventeen members of the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists. At the time of the North American consolidation, Unitarians and Universalists had expanded beyond their roots in liberal Christian theology, today they draw from a variety of religious traditions. Individuals may or may not self-identify as Christians or subscribe to Christian beliefs, Unitarian Universalist congregations and fellowships tend to retain some Christian traditions, such as Sunday worship with a sermon and the singing of hymns. New England Unitarians evolved from the Pilgrim fathers Congregational Christianity, which was based on a literal reading of the Bible. Liberalizing Unitarians rejected the Trinitarian belief in the godhead, Father, Son. Instead, they asserted a unitary notion of God, in addition, they rejected the doctrine of original sin, moving away from the Calvinism of the Congregationalists. New England Universalists rejected the Puritan forefathers emphasis on the few, the Elect. Instead Universalists asserted that all people will eventually be reconciled with God, Universalists rejected the hellfire and damnation of the evangelical preachers, who tried to revive the fundamentalist Christianity of the early Pilgrim fathers. This core doctrine asserts that through Christ every single human soul shall be saved, in 1793, Universalism emerged as a particular denomination of Christianity in the United States, eventually called the Universalist Church of America. Early American advocates of Universal Salvation such as Elhanan Winchester, Hosea Ballou and John Murray taught that all souls would achieve salvation, Christian Universalism denies the doctrine of everlasting damnation, and proclaims belief in an entirely loving God who will ultimately redeem all human beings. Historically, various forms of Nontrinitarianism have appeared within Christianity, Nontrinitarianism was especially prevalent during the theological turmoils of the Protestant Reformation. A Spanish physician, Michael Servetus, studied the Bible and concluded that the concept of the Trinity and his books On the Errors of the Trinity and Christianismi Restitutio caused much uproar
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Integral humanism (India)
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Integral humanism is a doctrine developed by Deendayal Upadhyaya and adopted by the Jana Sangh in 1965 as its official doctrine. It is also the philosophy of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It aims to appeal to broad sections of Indian society by presenting an indigenous economic model that puts the human being at centre stage, according to Upadhyaya, the primary concern in India must be to develop an indigenous economic model that puts the human being at center stage. It is opposed to western capitalist individualism and Marxist socialism, though welcoming to western science. It seeks a middle ground between capitalism and socialism, evaluating both systems on their merits, while being critical of their excesses and alienness. Humankind, according to Upadhyaya, had four hierarchically organized attributes of body, mind, intellect and soul which corresponded to four universal objectives, kama, artha, dharma and moksha. While none could be ignored, dharma is the basic, and moksha the ultimate objective of humankind, Upadhyaya rejected social systems in which individualism reigned supreme. He also rejected communism in which individualism was crushed as part of a large heartless machine, Upadhyaya claimed that Integral Humanism followed the tradition of advaita developed by Adi Sankara. Non-dualism represented the principle of every object in the universe. This, claimed Upadhyaya, was the essence and contribution of Indian culture, Integral humanism is almost an exact paraphrase of Gandhis vision of a future India. These notions revolve around the themes of harmony, primacy of cultural-national values. There is a need, according to Upadhyaya, to strike a balance between the Indian and Western thinking in view of the nature of the society and the cultural heritage of the country. The Nehruvian model of development, emphasizing the increase of material wealth through rapid industrialization. Not only has this ideology of development created social disparities and regional imbalances in economic growth, the philosophy of integral humanism, like Gandhism, opposes unbridled consumerism, since such an ideology is alien to Indian culture. This traditional culture stresses putting restraints on ones desires and advocates contentment rather than pursuit of material wealth. Deendayal Upadhyaya Non-Dualism Two Extracts from Integral Humanism from Jaffrelot, Christophe, philosophy of Integral Humanism at the website of BJP
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Neohumanism
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Neohumanism is a holistic philosophical theory elaborated by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar in his 1982 book, The Liberation of Intellect, Neohumanism. With neohumanism, Sarkar redefines both humanity and humanism, as well as commonly associated concepts. In addition, Sarkar introduces many new concepts intended to both individual and collective progress. In this philosophy universalism plays a central role, if humanism tends to only cover the human dimension in a human-centric view, neohumanism, according to Sarkar, is instead the elevation of humanism to universalism. It can be defined as a stage beyond the other forms of religious bounded beliefs rather it concentrate over spiritual realm and it doesnt have any grouped intention, rather it focus on personal existence. Sarkar wrote that neohumanism manifests in three stages of development, the first stage of neohumanism is spiritual practice to enhance the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of the practitioner. The stage of spiritual practice indirectly benefits society through the service that is part of spiritual practice. The second stage of neohumanism is spiritual principle and its impact is mainly in the mental and spiritual realms, both individual and collective. The third and final stage of neohumanism is spiritual mission, according to neohumanism, when an individuals existential nucleus merges with the Cosmic Existential Nucleus, she/he attains the consummation of her/his existence. Neohumanism asserts that this supreme status ensures the future of not only the world but also of the animal. Sarkar describes neohumanism as follows, What is neohumanism, Neohumanism is humanism of the past, humanism of the present, and humanism – newly explained – of the future. Explaining humanity and humanism in a new light will widen the path of human progress, Neohumanism will give new inspiration and provide a new interpretation for the very idea of human existence. This section describes some key concepts or constructs of neohumanism, the concepts are listed in alphabetical order for easier reference. According to neohumanism, love for the Supreme is the highest and most valuable treasure of humanity, however, neohumanism deems devotion to be a very tender inner asset, frequently assailed by materialism and other onslaughts from the external world. Neohumanism defines dogma as a mental prison, in other words, a dogma is any concept that one is expected to accept without question. Neohumanism perceives such conduct as fundamentally contrary to nature, which includes a constant quest for mental expansion. Hence, the position of neohumanism on dogma is that all dogma must be eradicated, Neohumanism discourages both geosentiment and sociosentiment, because both tend to be injurious to society. However, neohumanism observes that, of the two, sociosentiment is more pernicious
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Personism
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Personism is an ethical philosophy of personhood as typified by the thought of the utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer. It amounts to a branch of secular humanism with an emphasis on certain rights-criteria, personists believe that rights are conferred to the extent that a creature is a person. Michael Tooley provides the relevant definition of a person, saying it is a creature that is capable of desiring to continue as a subject of experience, a worldview like secular humanism is personism when the empathy and values are extended to the extent that the creature is a person. Consequently, a member of the species may not necessarily fit the definition of “person”. Hence, such philosophers have engaged in arguing that certain disabled individuals are not persons, personism may have views in common with transhumanism. Singer argues that. despite many individual exceptions, humanists have on the whole been unable to free themselves from one of the most central of these Christian dogmas, the prejudice of speciesism. Jaqueline Laing claims that Singers philosophy has natural conclusions that contradict his own account as well as conflict with common philosophical intuition. In one such feature of his philosophy, Singer argues that fetuses and even newborn humans are not yet persons and do not, thus the right to life does not apply to fetuses according to Singers preference utilitarianism as a non-person can not have preferences. Personism also holds that certain animals ought to have more rights than they currently possess, specifically, animals that are self-aware, such as great apes, dolphins, orcas, and elephants, would be recognized as having some of the rights of mentally competent adult humans. Singer himself is a vegan, and advocates for veganism and he adds that he is concerned with the rights of any creatures that currently exist, not with potential persons. Personism can refer to the actual topic of what constitutes a person. Personism can refer to a form of poetry mentioned by Frank OHara in which the poem is directly towards another person
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Rationalist humanism
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Rationalist humanism, or rational humanism or rationalistic humanism, is one of the strands of Age of Enlightenment. It had its roots in Renaissance, as a response to Middle Age religious integralism and obscurantism, rationalist humanism tradition includes Tocqueville and Montesquieu, and in the 19th century, Élie Halévy. Other strands of the Enlightenment included scientific naturalism, in the mid 20th century, rational humanism represented also an alternative for those that did not embrace Sartres existentialism. In the late 20th century, it has sided against the equiparation of human rights with rights to other animal species, rationalism Renaissance humanism Secular humanism Raymond Aron Élisabeth de Fontenay Raymond Aron Pour le Progrès. Après la chute des idoles, in Commentaire n.3 p. 233-ff, english translation, For Progress, in The College - The St Johns Review, St Johns Colleges StudentsReview, vol.31, n.2, January 1980
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Transhumanism
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Transhumanist thinkers study the potential benefits and dangers of emerging technologies that could overcome fundamental human limitations, as well as the ethics of using such technologies. The transhumanist philosophies of Max More and Stefan Lorenz Sorgner have been influenced strongly by Nietzschean thinking, by way of contrast, The Transhumanist Declaration. advocates the well-being of all sentience. Fundamental ideas of transhumanism were first advanced in 1923 by the British geneticist J. B. S, in particular, he was interested in the development of the science of eugenics, ectogenesis, and the application of genetics to improve human characteristics, such as health and intelligence. His article inspired academic and popular interest and these ideas have been common transhumanist themes ever since. The biologist Julian Huxley is generally regarded as the founder of transhumanism, the term itself, however, derives from an earlier 1940 paper by the Canadian philosopher W. D. Lighthall. Huxleys definition differs, albeit not substantially, from the one commonly in use since the 1980s, the ideas raised by these thinkers were explored in the science fiction of the 1960s, notably in Arthur C. Clarkes 2001, A Space Odyssey, in which an alien artifact grants transcendent power to its wielder, japanese Metabolist architects produced a manifesto in 1960 which outlined goals to encourage active metabolic development of our society through design and technology. What I think will be known by all the people, there is no more individual consciousness, only the will of mankind as a whole. The concept of the singularity, or the ultra-rapid advent of superhuman intelligence, was first proposed by the British cryptologist I. J. Good in 1965, Let an ultraintelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the activities of any man however clever. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make, computer scientist Marvin Minsky wrote on relationships between human and artificial intelligence beginning in the 1960s. The coalescence of an identifiable transhumanist movement began in the last decades of the 20th century, in 1972, Robert Ettinger contributed to the conceptualization of transhumanity in his book Man into Superman. FM-2030 published the Upwingers Manifesto in 1973, the first self-described transhumanists met formally in the early 1980s at the University of California, Los Angeles, which became the main center of transhumanist thought. Here, FM-2030 lectured on his Third Way futurist ideology, FM-2030 and Vita-More soon began holding gatherings for transhumanists in Los Angeles, which included students from FM-2030s courses and audiences from Vita-Mores artistic productions. In 1982, Vita-More authored the Transhumanist Arts Statement and, six years later, produced the cable TV show TransCentury Update on transhumanity, a program which reached over 100,000 viewers. In 1986, Eric Drexler published Engines of Creation, The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, which discussed the prospects for nanotechnology and molecular assemblers, and founded the Foresight Institute. As the first non-profit organization to research, advocate for, and perform cryonics, in 1988, the first issue of Extropy Magazine was published by Max More and Tom Morrow. Transhumanism shares many elements of humanism, including a respect for reason and science, a commitment to progress, Transhumanism differs from humanism in recognizing and anticipating the radical alterations in the nature and possibilities of our lives resulting from various sciences and technologies
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International Humanist and Ethical Union
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The International Humanist and Ethical Union is an umbrella organisation of humanist, atheist, rationalist, secular, skeptic, freethought and Ethical Culture organisations worldwide. The IHEU works to build and represent the global Humanist movement that defends human rights, in 2002, the IHEU General Assembly unanimously adopted the Amsterdam Declaration 2002, which presents as the official defining statement of World Humanism. The Happy Human is the symbol of the IHEU. IHEU holds a World Humanist Congress every three years, hosted by one of its Member Organisations, the next is to be held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2017. In January 2017, the organization invited members to suggest a new name for the IHEU, in an email they stated that at the most recent general assembly that many felt the name was too long and old-fashioned, and the acronym IHEU is difficult to pronounce. In 2002 at the IHEUs 50th anniversary World Humanist Congress, delegates passed a resolution known as the Amsterdam Declaration 2002. It stands for the building of a humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality, Member Organisations of the IHEU are required according to IHEUs membership regulations to have objects that are consistent with this understanding of Humanism. It includes the right to change our views or to reject beliefs previously held, pressure to conform to ideologies of the state or to doctrines of religion is a tyranny. In 2016 the IHEU listed its membership as 125 Member Organisations from 47 countries from a variety of non-religious traditions, the IHEU is a democratic organisation, the Board of which is elected by representatives of the Member Organisations at annual General Assemblies. The President as of 2015 is Andrew Copson, the IHEU headquarters is based in London, sharing an office with the BHA. IHEU has a wing for people aged up to 35 called the International Humanist, the aim of the IHEU is to build, support and represent the global humanist movement, defending human rights, particularly those of non-religious people, and promoting humanist values world-wide. As a campaigning NGO the IHEU aims to influence policy through representation and information, to build the humanist network. In 2012 the IHEU began publishing a report on discrimination against humanists, atheists. The reports ratings system tests each country against a list of 55 boundary conditions, the boundary conditions are classed under five levels of overall severity, and each countrys final status is applied based on the most severe boundary condition applied. The report has received coverage in the media of countries that are severely criticised, for example Malaysias free thought, religious expression under serious assault. However, there seems to be little awareness that this also provides a normative frame of reference for atheists, humanists and freethinkers and their convictions, practices. I am therefore delighted that for the first time the Humanist community has produced a report on discrimination against atheists
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American Humanist Association
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In 1927 an organization called the Humanist Fellowship began at a gathering in Chicago. In 1928 the Fellowship started publishing the New Humanist magazine, H. G. Creel was the first editor. The New Humanist was published from 1928 to 1936, by 1935 the Humanist Fellowship had become the Humanist Press Association, the first national association of humanism in the United States. 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. They identified humanism as an ideology that espouses reason, ethics, upon ordination these ministers were then accorded the same rights and privileges granted by law to priests, ministers, and rabbis of traditional theistic religions. Curtis Reese was a leader in the 1941 reorganization and incorporation of the Humanist Press Association as the American Humanist Association, along with its reorganization, the AHA began printing The Humanist magazine. The AHA was originally headquartered in Yellow Springs, Ohio, then San Francisco, California, subsequently, the AHA moved to Washington, D. C. In 1952 the AHA became a member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union in Amsterdam. As an international coalition of Humanist organizations, the IHEU stands today as the international umbrella group for Humanism. The AHA was the first national organization to support abortion rights. Around the same time, the AHA joined hands with the American Ethical Union to help establish the rights of conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War. This time also saw Humanists involved in the creation of the first nationwide memorial societies, in 1991 the AHA took control of the Humanist Society, a religious Humanist organization that now runs the celebrant program. Since 1991 the organization has worked as an adjunct to the American Humanist Association to certify qualified members to serve in this capacity as ministers. The Humanist Societys ministry prepares Humanist Celebrants to lead ceremonial observances across the nation, Celebrants provide millions of Americans an alternative to traditional religious weddings, memorial services, and other life cycle events. After this transfer, the AHA commenced the process of jettisoning its religious tax exemption, today the AHA is recognized by the U. S. Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit, tax exempt,501, membership numbers are disputed, but Djupe and Olson place it under 50,000. The AHA has over 575,000 followers on Facebook and over 42,000 followers on Twitter, the AHA is also the supervising organization for various Humanist affiliates and adjunct organizations. The Black Humanist Alliance of the American Humanist Association was founded in 2016 as a pillar of its new Initiatives for Social Justice, like the Feminist Humanist Alliance and the LGBT Humanist Alliance, the Black Humanist Alliance uses an intersectional approach to addressing issues facing the Black community
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Humanists UK
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The current President of the BHA is Shappi Khorsandi and the Chief Executive is Andrew Copson. The association currently has 70 affiliated regional and special interest groups, the advancement of education and in particular the study of and the dissemination of knowledge about Humanism and about the arts and science as they relate to Humanism. The promotion of understanding between people holding religious and non-religious beliefs so as to advance cooperation in society. The BHA also wishes to build itself as a sustainable and nationally-recognised organisation as a voice for non-religious people, the British Humanist Association was founded in 1896 by American Stanton Coit as the Union of Ethical Societies, which brought together existing ethical societies in Britain. In 1963 H. J. Blackham became the first Executive Director, and this transition followed a decade of discussions which nearly prompted a merger of the Union of Ethical Societies with the Rationalist Press Association and the South Place Ethical Society. In 1963 the discussions went as far as creating an umbrella Humanist Association of which Harold Blackham was the Executive Director, in the 1960s the BHA campaigned on the repeal of Sunday Observance laws and the reform of the 1944 Education Act’s clauses on religion in schools. More generally the BHA aimed to defend freedom of speech, support the elimination of world poverty and it was claimed in 1977 that the BHA aimed to make humanism available and meaningful to the millions who have no alternative belief. At this time the BHA also supported a number of local communities. A network of celebrants able to conduct funerals, weddings, naming ceremonies and same sex affirmations was also developed. Social concerns have persisted in the BHA’s programme, the BHA has been active in arguing for voluntary euthanasia and the right to obtain an abortion. It has always sought an open society, the BHA claims that the rules on religious programming within the BBC constitute a religious privilege and reserve particular criticism for the Thought for the Day slot on Radio 4s Today programme. They also support humanist volunteers on the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education which currently determines the Religious Education syllabus for each local authority, the BHA opposes the teaching of creationism in schools. In September 2011, the BHA launched their Teach evolution, not creationism campaign, the Department for Education amended the funding agreement to allow the withdrawal of funding for free schools that teach creationism as established scientific fact. It has also campaigned for opt-out organ donor registers to improve the availability of life-saving organs in the UK, the BHA also campaigns on marriage laws, demanding full equality for same-sex and humanist marriage ceremonies throughout the UK. The BHA had been providing same-sex wedding ceremonies for decades, and had strongly supported legalising same-sex marriage years in advance of eventual UK, in 2013, it secured an amendment to the same sex marriage bill to require UK Government to consult on letting humanist celebrants conduct legal marriages. Though the consultation result strongly indicated that legalisation should go ahead and it also campaigns for same-sex and humanist marriages in Northern Ireland. Many of its campaigns are based on speech and human rights legislation. In 2008, the law was repealed, an issue over which the BHA had long-campaigned
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Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands
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The Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands is an organization to promote and spread a secular humanist worldview and an advocate for the rights of nonreligious people. It was founded 1993 in Berlin and counts about 20,000 members and its president is the philosopher and political scientist Frieder Otto Wolf. The HVD is a member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, the HVD is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect. The HVD is a provider of humanist and non-religious ceremonies in many regions and it runs a humanistic primary school in Fürth, and a second school is set to open its doors in Munich soon. In Berlin, the HVD is responsible for the school subject Humanistische Lebenskunde. The HVD supports a youth organization Junge Humanistinnen & Humanisten in Deutschland, the association is a well-known consultant for Advance health care directives, runs hospices and offers consultation on family planning and abortion
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Humanist Society Scotland
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Humanist Society Scotland is a Scottish registered charity that promotes humanist views. It is a member of the European Humanist Federation and the International Humanist, in August 2010 it had 6,500 members. The Society also claims to have a role for the 28% of Scots who identify themselves as having no religion. The Society has campaigned to persuade the Registrar General to amend the question for the 2011 census, in April 2015, Gordon MacRae was appointed Chief Executive. The official symbol of the HSS is an adaptation of the Happy Human symbol which incorporates the Saltire, the Society also publishes a quarterly magazine, Humanitie. The Society campaigns for a state in Scotland, and to abolish religious privilege. Its main efforts have concentrated on seeking to allow legal humanist weddings, although the Act was not amended, section 12 of the Act allows the Registrar General for Scotland to authorise temporary additional celebrants. The first legal humanist wedding took place at Edinburgh Zoo on 18 June 2005 between Karen Watts and Martin Reijns, the Society organises training, mentoring and performance reviews of celebrants, and submits names of celebrants to the Registrar General annually for authorisation. Since the legalisation of same-sex marriages, both sets of same-sex and opposite-sex marriages are treated the same way, in 2013 the group, along with the Edinburgh Secular Society, started a campaign against religious representation on council education committees in Scotland
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Norwegian Humanist Association
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The Norwegian Humanist Association is one of the largest secular humanist associations in the world, with 84,300 members. Those members constitute 1. 7% of the population of 5,038,100. Founded in 1956, the HEF is a member of the International Humanist, the Norwegian Humanist Association is an organization for people who base their ethics on human, not religious values. Most members are agnostics or atheists, former HEF secretary general, Levi Fragell, was president of the IHEU and is Chair of IHEU’s Committee for Growth and Development. In June,2007 Åse Kleveland became chairman of the Board of the organization, according to its bylaws, the organization works to ensure access to humanist ceremonies and spreading knowledge of humanism. The organization previously also worked for a separation of church and state, a civil confirmation organized by HEF has gained popularity among the Norwegian young during recent years. About 17 percent of Norwegian 15-year-olds are now taking part in HEFs civil confirmation, on July 9,2006 a prominent member of the Norwegian Humanist Association, Mr. Jens Brun-Pedersen, called for prime minister Jens Stoltenberg to advocate the separation of church and state. The Norwegian Humanist Association hosted the 18th World Humanist Congress of the IHEU, the Congress was held at the Oslo Congress Center in Oslo, Norway, on the 12–14 August 2011. The theme was Humanism and Peace, HEF also hosted the 3rd in 1962 and the 9th in 1986. A youth wing of the HEF, Norwegian Humanist Youth, was founded in August 2007, the current President of the Board is Anders Garbom Backe. Norwegian Heathen Society Official website of the Norwegian Humanist Association Member magazine - Fri tanke Norwegian Humanist Youth
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Antihumanism
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In social theory and philosophy, antihumanism is a theory that is critical of traditional humanism and traditional ideas about humanity and the human condition. Central to antihumanism is the view that concepts of nature, man, or humanity. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, the philosophy of humanism was a cornerstone of the Enlightenment, from the belief in a universal moral core of humanity it followed that all persons are inherently free and equal. For liberal humanists such as Kant, the law of reason was a guide towards total emancipation from any kind of tyranny. Criticism of humanism being over-idealistic swiftly began in the 19th Century, for Friedrich Nietzsche, humanism was nothing more than an empty figure of speech – a secular version of theism. Max Stirner expressed a position in his book The Ego and Its Own. Nietzsche argues in Genealogy of Morals that human rights exist as a means for the weak to constrain the strong, as such, they do not facilitate the emancipation of life, but instead deny it. The young Karl Marx is sometimes considered a humanist, as opposed to the mature Marx who became more forceful in his criticism of human rights as idealist or utopian, Marx believed human rights were a product of the very dehumanization they were intended to oppose. Given that capitalism forces individuals to behave in a manner, they are in constant conflict with one another. True emancipation, he asserted, could come through the establishment of communism. In the 20th century, the view of humans as rationally autonomous was challenged by Sigmund Freud, martin Heidegger viewed humanism as a metaphysical philosophy that ascribes to humanity a universal essence and privileges it above all other forms of existence. For Heidegger, humanism takes consciousness as the paradigm of philosophy, like Hegel before him, Heidegger rejected the Kantian notion of autonomy, pointing out that humans were social and historical beings, as well as Kants notion of a constituting consciousness. Heidegger nevertheless retains links both to humanism and to existentialism despite his efforts to distance himself from both in the Letter on Humanism, positivism assumes that there is valid knowledge only in scientific knowledge. Obtaining and verifying data that can be received from the senses is known as empirical evidence and this view holds that society operates according to general laws like the physical world. Introspective and intuitional attempts to gain knowledge are rejected, Comte argued that society operates according to its own quasi-absolute laws, much as the physical world operates according to gravity and other absolute laws of nature. Humanist thinker Tzvetan Todorov has identified within modernity a trend of thought which emphasizes science and he clearly identifies positivist theorist Auguste Comte as an important proponent of this view. For Todorov Scientism does not eliminate the will but decides that since the results of science are valid for everyone, in practice, the individual must submit to the collectivity, which knows better than he does. A similar criticism can be found in the associated with the Frankfurt School of social research
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Posthumanism
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AI takeover, A more pessimistic alternative to transhumanism in which humans will not be enhanced, but rather eventually replaced by artificial intelligences. Some philosophers, including Nick Land, promote the view that humans should embrace, voluntary Human Extinction, which seeks a posthuman future that in this case is a future without humans. A second prioritizes practices, especially social practices, over individuals which, they say, there may be a third kind of posthumanism, propounded by the philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd. Dooyeweerd prioritized law and meaningfulness as that which enables humanity and all else to exist, behave, live, occur, meaning is the being of all that has been created, Dooyeweerd wrote, and the nature even of our selfhood. Both human and nonhuman alike function subject to a common law-side, ihab Hassan, theorist in the academic study of literature, once stated, Humanism may be coming to an end as humanism transforms itself into something one must helplessly call posthumanism. This view predates most currents of posthumanism which have developed over the late 20th century in somewhat diverse, for example, Hassan is a known scholar whose theoretical writings expressly address postmodernity in society. Katherine Hayles, Donna Haraway, Peter Sloterdijk, Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, Evan Thompson, Francisco Varela, Humberto Maturana, among the theorists are philosophers, such as Robert Pepperell, who have written about a posthuman condition, which is often substituted for the term posthumanism. Posthumanism differs from classical humanism by relegating humanity back to one of natural species. According to this claim, humans have no inherent rights to destroy nature or set themselves above it in ethical considerations a priori, Human knowledge is also reduced to a less controlling position, previously seen as the defining aspect of the world. The limitations and fallibility of human intelligence are confessed, even though it does not imply abandoning the tradition of humanism. In contrast to humanism, the discourse of posthumanism seeks to redefine the boundaries surrounding modern philosophical understanding of the human, posthumanism represents an evolution of thought beyond that of the contemporary social boundaries and is predicated on the seeking of truth within a postmodern context. In so doing, it rejects previous attempts to establish anthropological universals that are imbued with anthropocentric assumptions, the philosopher Michel Foucault placed posthumanism within a context that differentiated humanism from enlightenment thought. Katherine Hayles, writes about the struggle between different versions of the posthuman as it continually co-evolves alongside intelligent machines, such coevolution, according to some strands of the posthuman discourse, allows one to extend their subjective understandings of real experiences beyond the boundaries of embodied existence. According to Hayless view of posthuman, often referred to as posthumanism, visual perception. Even as one seeks to extend knowledge by deconstructing perceived boundaries, the use of technology in a contemporary society is thought to complicate this relationship. Because of this, according to Hayles, posthumanism is characterized by a loss of subjectivity based on bodily boundaries, while posthumanism is a broad and complex ideology, it has relevant implications today and for the future. James Hughes comments that there is confusion between the two terms. Some critics have argued that all forms of posthumanism have more in common than their respective proponents realize, Humanism has always been integrated into discourses of exploitation, colonialism, imperialism, neoimperialism, democracy, and of course, American democratization
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Ethical movement
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The Ethical movement is an outgrowth of secular moral traditions in the 19th century, principally in Europe and the United States. Subsequent godless congregational movements include the Sunday Assembly, practitioners of Ethical Culture focus on supporting one another in becoming better people, and on doing good in the world. The Ethical movement was an outgrowth of the loss of faith among the intellectuals of the Victorian era. A precursor to the doctrines of the movement can be found in the South Place Ethical Society, founded in 1793 as the South Place Chapel on Finsbury Square. In the early century, the chapel became known as a radical gathering-place. At that point it was a Unitarian chapel, and that movement, like Quakers, in later decades, the chapel moved away from Unitarianism, changing its name first to the South Place Religious Society, then the South Place Ethical Society and is now Conway Hall Ethical Society. The Fellowship of the New Life was established in 1883 by the Scottish intellectual Thomas Davidson and its objective was The cultivation of a perfect character in each and all. They wanted to transform society by setting an example of simplified living for others to follow. Davidson was a proponent of a structured philosophy about religion, ethics. And we now form ourselves into a Society, to be called the Guild of the New Life, although the Fellowship was a short-lived organization, it spawned the Fabian Society, which split in 1884 from the Fellowship of the New Life. In his youth, Felix Adler was being trained to be a rabbi like his father, Samuel Adler, as part of his education, he enrolled at the University of Heidelberg, where he was influenced by neo-Kantian philosophy. He was especially drawn to the Kantian ideas that one could not prove the existence or non-existence of deities or immortality, during this time he was also exposed to the moral problems caused by the exploitation of women and labor. These experiences laid the groundwork for the ethical movement. Upon his return from Germany, in 1873, he shared his vision with his fathers congregation in the form of a sermon. Due to the reaction he elicited it became his first and last sermon as a rabbi in training. By 1886, similar societies had sprouted up in Philadelphia, Chicago, in effect, the movement responded to the religious crisis of the time by replacing theology with unadulterated morality. It aimed to disentangle moral ideas from religious doctrines, metaphysical systems, and ethical theories, Adler was also particularly critical of the religious emphasis on creed, believing it to be the source of sectarian bigotry. He therefore attempted to provide a universal fellowship devoid of ritual and ceremony, for the same reasons the movement also adopted a neutral position on religious beliefs, advocating neither atheism nor theism, agnosticism nor deism
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Outline of humanism
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Two common forms of humanism are religious humanism and secular humanism. Humanism, term applied to a variety of beliefs, methods. Alternately known as Renaissance humanism, this program was so broadly and profoundly influential that it is one of the reasons why the Renaissance is viewed as a distinct historical period. Indeed, though the word Renaissance is of recent coinage. But humanism sought its own bases in far earlier times and, moreover. Humanism can be described as all of the following, Approach – manner in which a problem is solved or policy is made. Branch of philosophy – study of general and fundamental problems, such as connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach, social movement – type of group action. A large informal grouping of individuals or organization which focuses on political or social issues. In other words, it out, resists or undoes a social change. Religious humanism – philosophy that integrates secular ethics with religious rituals and beliefs that center on human needs, interests, Christian humanism – emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, his social teachings and his propensity to synthesize human spirituality and materialism. Christian existential humanism – theo-philosophical movement which takes an existentialist approach to Christian theology, humanistic Judaism – movement in Judaism that offers a nontheistic alternative in contemporary Jewish life. It amounts to a branch of secular humanism with an emphasis on certain rights-criteria, posthumanism – after humanism or beyond humanism. That is, striving to become posthuman and it was an influential strand of conservative thought up to the 1930s. These agents, generally referred to as celebrants, perform weddings, funerals, Humanist officiant – person who performs secular humanist celebrancy services for weddings, funerals, child namings, coming of age ceremonies, and other rituals. Humanist baby naming – some humanists perform a ceremony as a non-religious alternative to ceremonies such as christening. The principle is similar to a civil wedding ceremony as an alternative to a religious wedding ceremony. C. S. It holds that people are good, and adopts a holistic approach to human existence which pays special attention to such phenomena as creativity, free will
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Rights
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Rights are of essential importance in such disciplines as law and ethics, especially theories of justice and deontology. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, rights structure the form of governments, the content of laws, there is considerable disagreement about what is meant precisely by the term rights. One way to get an idea of the understandings and senses of the term is to consider different ways it is used. Natural rights are rights which are natural in the sense of not artificial, not man-made, as in rights deriving from deontic logic, from human nature, or from the edicts of a god. They are universal, that is, they apply to all people and they exist necessarily, inhere in every individual, and cant be taken away. For example, it has argued that humans have a natural right to life. These are sometimes called moral rights or inalienable rights, legal rights, in contrast, are based on a societys customs, laws, statutes or actions by legislatures. An example of a right is the right to vote of citizens. Citizenship, itself, is considered as the basis for having legal rights. Legal rights are called civil rights or statutory rights and are culturally and politically relative since they depend on a specific societal context to have meaning. Some thinkers see rights in one sense while others accept that both senses have a measure of validity. There has been considerable debate about these senses throughout history. A claim right is a right which entails that another person has a duty to the right-holder. In logic, this idea can be expressed as, Person A has a claim that person B do something if, every claim-right entails that some other duty-bearer must do some duty for the claim to be satisfied. This duty can be to act or to refrain from acting, likewise, in jurisdictions where social welfare services are provided, citizens have legal claim rights to be provided with those services. A liberty right or privilege, in contrast, is simply a freedom or permission for the right-holder to do something and this can be expressed in logic as, Person A has a privilege to do something if and only if A has no duty not to do that something. Likewise, if a person has a right against someone else. For example, a person has a liberty right to walk down a sidewalk and can decide whether or not to do so
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Natural and legal rights
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Natural and legal rights are two types of rights. Legal rights are those bestowed onto a person by a legal system. Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any culture or government. The concept of law is closely related to the concept of natural rights. Conversely, the concept of rights is used by others to challenge the legitimacy of all such establishments. Natural rights, in particular, are considered beyond the authority of any government or international body to dismiss, the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an important legal instrument enshrining one conception of natural rights into international soft law. Natural rights were traditionally viewed as exclusively negative rights, whereas human rights also comprise positive rights, even on a natural rights conception of human rights, the two terms may not be synonymous. The proposition that animals have natural rights is one that gained the interest of philosophers and legal scholars in the 20th century, the existence of natural rights has been asserted by different individuals on different premises, such as a priori philosophical reasoning or religious principles. For example, Immanuel Kant claimed to derive natural rights through reason alone, the United States Declaration of Independence, meanwhile, is based upon the self-evident truth that all men are. Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, likewise, different philosophers and statesmen have designed different lists of what they believe to be natural rights, almost all include the right to life and liberty as the two highest priorities. H. L. A. Hart argued that if there are any rights at all, there must be the right to liberty, for all the others would depend upon this. T. H. Green argued that “if there are things as rights at all, then, there must be a right to life and liberty, or, to put it more properly to free life. ”John Locke emphasized life. However, despite Lockes influential defense of the right of revolution, leaders are seen as representative of God on earth, but they deserve allegiance only as long as they have farr, a kind of divine blessing that they must earn by moral behavior. The Stoics held that no one was a slave by nature, of fundamental importance to the development of the idea of natural rights was the emergence of the idea of natural human equality. Carlyle notes, There is no change in theory so startling in its completeness as the change from the theory of Aristotle to the later philosophical view represented by Cicero. We think that this cannot be better exemplified than with regard to the theory of the equality of human nature, charles H. Cicero argues in De Legibus that we are born for Justice, and that right is based, not upon opinions, but upon Nature. Centuries later, the Stoic doctrine that the part cannot be delivered into bondage re-emerged in the Reformation doctrine of liberty of conscience. Martin Luther wrote, Furthermore, every man is responsible for his own faith, preservation of the natural rights to life, liberty, and property was claimed as justification for the rebellion of the American colonies
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Negative and positive rights
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Negative and positive rights are rights that respectively oblige either action or inaction. These obligations may be of either a legal or moral character, the notion of positive and negative rights may also be applied to liberty rights. To take an example involving two parties in a court of law, Adrian has a right to x against Clay if. In contrast, Adrian has a right to x against Clay if. In the three generations account of human rights, negative rights are associated with the first generation of rights, while positive rights are associated with the second. Some philosophers disagree that the negative-positive rights distinction is useful or valid, as such, negative rights exist unless someone acts to negate them. A positive right is a right to be subjected to an action of another person or group, in other words, for a positive right to be exercised, someone elses actions must be added to the equation. In theory, a negative right forbids others from acting against the right holder, in the framework of the Kantian categorical imperative, negative rights can be associated with perfect duties while positive rights can be connected to imperfect duties. Belief in a distinction between positive and negative rights is usually maintained, or emphasized, by libertarians, who believe that rights do not exist until they are created by contract. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights lists both positive and negative rights, the constitutions of most liberal democracies guarantee negative rights, but not all include positive rights. Rights are often spoken of as inalienable and sometimes even absolute, thus, even if the right not to be killed is inalienable, the corresponding obligation on others to refrain from killing is generally understood to have at least one exception, self-defense. Likewise a shopkeeper or other passerby may also meet this burden of proof when tackling the thief, but if any of those individuals pulled a gun and shot the thief for stealing, most modern societies would not accept that the burden of proof had been met. Most modern societies insist that other, very serious ethical questions need come into play before stealing could justify killing, but as we see with the police officer, exercising a duty may violate negative obligations. For this reason, in ethics positive obligations are almost never considered prima facie, the greatest negative obligation may have just one exception—one higher obligation of self-defense—but even the greatest positive obligations generally require more complex ethical analysis. For example, one could easily justify failing to help, not just one and this consideration has led ethicists to agree in a general way that positive obligations are usually junior to negative obligations because they are not reliably prima facie. Some critics of positive rights implicitly suggest that positive obligations are not reliably prima facie they must always be agreed to through contract. He says that the question between what one has a right to do and who if anybody enforces it are separate issues, therefore, he says the distinction between negative and positive is quite robust. Libertarians hold that positive rights, which would include a right to be protected, however, those who hold this view do not mean that police, for example, are not obligated to protect the rights of citizens
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Civil and political rights
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Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure ones ability to participate in the civil and political life of the society, Civil and political rights form the original and main part of international human rights. They comprise the first portion of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the phrase civil rights is a translation of Latin ius civis. Roman citizens could be either free or servile, but they all had rights in law. After the Edict of Milan in 313, these included the freedom of religion. Roman legal doctrine was lost during the Middle Ages, but claims of rights could still be made based on religious doctrine. According to the leaders of Ketts Rebellion, all men may be made free. In the 17th century, English common law judge Sir Edward Coke revived the idea of rights based on citizenship by arguing that Englishmen had historically enjoyed such rights, the Parliament of England adopted the English Bill of Rights in 1689. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, by George Mason and James Madison, was adopted in 1776, the Virginia declaration is the direct ancestor and model for the U. S. Bill of Rights. The removal by legislation of a civil right constitutes a civil disability, in early 19th century Britain, the phrase civil rights most commonly referred to the issue of such legal discrimination against Catholics. In the House of Commons support for civil rights was divided, the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 restored their civil rights. In the 1860s, Americans adapted this usage to newly freed blacks, congress enacted civil rights acts in 1866,1871,1875,1957,1960,1964,1968, and 1991. Marshall notes that civil rights were among the first to be recognized and codified, followed later by political rights, in many countries, they are constitutional rights and are included in a bill of rights or similar document. They are also defined in human rights instruments, such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Civil and political rights need not be codified to be protected, although most democracies worldwide do have formal written guarantees of civil, Civil rights are considered to be natural rights. Thomas Jefferson wrote in his A Summary View of the Rights of British America that a free people their rights as derived from the laws of nature, the question of to whom civil and political rights apply is a subject of controversy. According to political scientist Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr. Custom also plays a role, the United States Declaration of Independence states that people have unalienable rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. It is considered by some that the purpose of government is the protection of life. Ideas of self-ownership and cognitive liberty affirm rights to choose the food one eats, the one takes
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Animal rights
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They maintain that animals should no longer be viewed as property or used as food, clothing, research subjects, entertainment, or beasts of burden. Advocates approach the issue from a variety of perspectives, the abolitionist view is that animals have moral rights, which the pursuit of incremental reform may undermine by encouraging human beings to feel comfortable with using them. Gary Franciones abolitionist position promotes ethical veganism and he argues that animal rights groups that pursue welfare concerns, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, risk making the public feel comfortable about its use of animals. He calls such groups the new welfarists, PETA argues that Franciones criticism does little to help alleviate the suffering of individual animals and also trivializes the efforts of workers in the field who handle cruelty cases. It also creates divisiveness within the animal liberation movement instead of focusing on shared goals, sentiocentrism is the theory that sentient individuals are the subject of moral concern and therefore are deserving of rights. Protectionists seek incremental reform in how animals are treated, with a view to ending animal use entirely and this position is represented by the philosopher Peter Singer. Multiple cultural traditions around the world—such as Animism, Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, the animals most often considered in arguments for personhood are bonobos and chimpanzees. S. Congress with the enactment of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, Aristotle argued that animals lacked reason, and placed humans at the top of the natural world, yet the respect for animals in ancient Greece was very high. Some animals were considered divine e. g. dolphins, the 21st-century debates about animals can be traced back to the ancient world, and the idea of a divine hierarchy. Dominion need not entail property rights, but it has been interpreted, by some, contemporary philosopher Bernard Rollin writes that dominion does not entail or allow abuse any more than does dominion a parent enjoys over a child. Rollin further states that the Biblical Sabbath requirement promulgated in the Ten Commandments required that animals be granted a day of rest along with humans, correlatively, the Bible forbids plowing with an ox and an ass together. According to the tradition, this prohibition stems from the hardship that an ass would suffer by being compelled to keep up with an ox. Similarly, one finds the prohibition against muzzling an ox when it treads out the grain and these ancient regulations, virtually forgotten, bespeak of an eloquent awareness of the status of animals as ends in themselves, a point also corroborated by Norm Phelps. The philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras, urged respect for animals, believing that human and nonhuman souls were reincarnated from human to animal, and vice versa. Against this, Aristotle, student to the philosopher Plato, argued that animals had no interests of their own. Theophrastus, one of Aristotles pupils, argued that also had reasoning. Plutarch in his Life of Cato the Elder comments that while law and justice are strictly to men only, beneficence. This is intended as a correction and advance over the merely utilitarian treatment of animals, according to Richard D. Ryder, the first known animal protection legislation in Europe was passed in Ireland in 1635
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Children's rights
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Childrens rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors. The Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 defines a child as any person who has not reached the age of eighteen years. Other definitions include the rights to care and nurturing, a child is any human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. The field of childrens rights spans the fields of law, politics, religion, is a mass of human rights law, both treaty and soft law, both general and child-specific, which recognises the distinct status and particular requirements of children. As minors by law children do not have autonomy or the right to decisions on their own for themselves in any known jurisdiction of the world. Instead their adult caregivers, including parents, social workers, teachers, youth workers, some believe that this state of affairs gives children insufficient control over their own lives and causes them to be vulnerable. Louis Althusser has gone so far as to describe this legal machinery, as it applies to children, on this view, children are to be regarded as a minority group towards whom society needs to reconsider the way it behaves. Researchers have identified children as needing to be recognized as participants in society whose rights, sir William Blackstone recognized three parental duties to the child, maintenance, protection, and education. In modern language, the child has a right to receive these from the parent, consensus on defining childrens rights has become clearer in the last fifty years. A1973 publication by Hillary Clinton stated that childrens rights were a slogan in need of a definition, children’s rights law is defined as the point where the law intersects with a childs life. Children have two types of rights under international human rights law. General rights operative in childhood include the right to security of the person, to freedom from inhuman, cruel, or degrading treatment, Childrens rights are defined in numerous ways, including a wide spectrum of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. These have been labeled as the right of empowerment and as the right to protection, United Nations educational guides for children classify the rights outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child as the 3 Ps, Provision, Protection, and Participation. They may be elaborated as follows, Provision, Children have the right to a standard of living, health care, education and services. These include a diet, a warm bed to sleep in. Protection, Children have the right to protection from abuse, neglect and this includes the right to safe places for children to play, constructive child rearing behavior, and acknowledgment of the evolving capacities of children. Participation, Children have the right to participate in communities and have programs and this includes childrens involvement in libraries and community programs, youth voice activities, and involving children as decision-makers. Human Rights Watch, an advocacy organization, includes child labor, juvenile justice, orphans and abandoned children, refugees, street children
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Consumer protection
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The laws are designed to prevent the businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors. They may also provide protection for those most vulnerable in society. Consumer protection laws are a form of government regulation that aim to protect the rights of consumers, for example, a government may require businesses to disclose detailed information about products—particularly in areas where safety or public health is an issue, such as food. A consumer is defined as someone who acquires goods or services for use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production. Consumer protection can also be asserted via non-government organizations and individuals as consumer activism, Consumer protection law or consumer law is considered an area of law that regulates private law relationships between individual consumers and the businesses that sell those goods and services. Its a way of preventing fraud and scams from service and sales contracts, bill collector regulation, pricing, utility turnoffs, consolidation, the following lists consumer legislation at the nation-state level. In the EU member states Germany and the United Kingdom there is also the applicability of law at the EU level to be considered, in Australia, the corresponding agency is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or the individual State Consumer Affairs agencies. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has responsibility for consumer protection regulation of financial services, however, in practice it does so through privately run EDR schemes such as the Financial Ombudsman Service. Germany as a state of the European Union is bound by the consumer protection directives of the European Union. A minister of the cabinet is responsible for consumer rights. In the current cabinet of Angela Merkel, this is Heiko Maas.84,71 BVerwGE 183), in India The Consumer protection act,1986 is governing consumer protection. Appeal could be filed to the State Consumer Disputes Redress Commissions, in recent years, many effective judgment have been passed by some state and National Consumer Forums. The Sale of Goods Act of 1930 act provides some safeguards to buyers of goods if goods purchased do not fulfill the express or implied conditions, the Civil Code in Taiwan contains five books, General Principles, Obligations, Rights over Things, Family, and Succession. The second book of the Code, the Book of Obligations, the Consumer Protection Commission of Executive Yuan serves as an ombudsman supervising, coordinating, reporting any unsafe products/services and periodically reviewing the legislation. Specifics of the division of labour between the EU and the UK are detailed here, domestic laws originated within the ambit of contract and tort but, with the influence of EU law, it is emerging as an independent area of law. In many circumstances, where law is in question, the matter judicially treated as tort, contract. Consumer Protection issues are dealt with when complaints are made to the Director-General of Fair Trade, the Office of Fair Trading will then investigate, impose an injunction or take the matter to litigation. However, consumers cannot directly complain to the OFT, complaints need to be made to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service who will provide legal advice to complainants, or re-direct the individual complaint to Trading Standards for investigation
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Creditor's rights
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Creditors rights are the procedural provisions designed to protect the ability of creditors—persons who are owed money—to collect the money that they are owed. The rights of a particular creditor usually depend in part on the reason for which the debt is owed, creditors rights deal not only with the rights of creditors against the debtor, but also with the rights of creditors against one another. Creditors may also be classed according to whether they are in possession of the collateral, a creditor may generally ask a court to set aside a fraudulent conveyance designed to move the debtors property or funds out of their reach. Some lawyers have a practice area focused on the collection of such debts. Such attorneys are frequently referred to as attorneys or collection lawyers
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Fetal rights
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Fetal rights are moral rights or legal rights of human fetuses under natural and civil law. The term fetal rights came into wide usage after the landmark case Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion in the United States in 1973, the concept of fetal rights has evolved to include the issues of maternal drug and alcohol abuse. The only international treaty specifically tackling the fetal rights is the American Convention on Human Rights which envisages the fetal right to life, many legal experts recognize an increasing need to settle the legal status of the fetus. In antiquity, a fetus was sometimes protected by restrictions on abortion, some versions of the Hippocratic Oath indirectly protected fetus by prohibiting abortifacients. Until approximately the mid-19th century, philosophical views on the fetus were influenced in part by Aristotelian concept of delayed hominization, according to it, human fetuses only gradually acquire their souls, and in the early stages of pregnancy the fetus is not fully human. Relying on examinations of miscarried fetuses, Aristotle believed that male fetuses acquire their basic form at around day 40, for Pythagoreans, however, fetal life was co-equal in moral worth with adult human life from the moment of conception, similar views were held by Stoics. Ancient Athenian law did not recognise fetal right to life before the ritual acknowledgement of the child, the law, however, allowed to postpone the execution of sentenced pregnant women until a baby was delivered. Several Hindu texts on ethics and righteousness, such as Dharmaśāstra, give fetus a right to life from conception, the property law of Roman Empire granted fetus inheritance rights. As long as the fetus was conceived before the death and then born alive. Even though under the Roman law the fetus was not a legal subject, Roman jurist Ulpian noted, that in the Law of the Twelve Tables he who was in the womb is admitted to the legitimate succession, if he has been born. The inheritance rights of the fetus were means of fulfilling the testators will, the interests of the fetus could be protected by a custodian, usually a male relative, but in some cases a woman herself could be appointed the custodian. The Digest granted the fetus consanguinity rights, vesting the protection of interests in the praetor. The Digest also prohibited the execution of pregnant women until delivery, the Roman law also envisaged that if a slave mother had been free for any period between the time of the conception and childbirth, the child would be regarded as born free. Although the mother might have become slave again before the childbirth, at the same time, Greek and Roman sources do not mention issues of alcohol consumption by pregnant women. On that basis it is believed that Greeks and Romans were not aware of the fetal alcohol syndrome, the Synod of Neo-Caesarea decided that the baptism of a pregnant woman in any stage of gestation did not include the fetus. In the Middle Ages, fetal rights were associated with the concept of ensoulment. In some cases the fetus could also inherit or be in the order of succession, in the Byzantine Empire, fetus was regarded as a natural person and could inherit alongside blood descendents and slaves. Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos allowed soldiers to transfer their pronoiai to their unborn children, the unborn royals were increasingly granted the right to succession
