Agnosticism / Atheism: What's Hot Now: Humanism: An Introduction

Agnosticism / Atheism: What's Hot Now These articles that had the largest increase in popularity over the last week // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Humanism: An Introduction Jan 2nd 2012, 11:01 Humanism, in one form or another, has been part of Western culture for several thousand years. Its roots can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome, many of its principles were revived during the Renaissance, and those principles were integrated into the political and cultural developments of the Enlightenment. Today, though, organized humanism seems to have little direct influence on either politics or culture. Shouldn’t that change? Title: Humanism: An Introduction Author: Jim Herrick Publisher: Prometheus Books ISBN: 1591022398 Pro: • Short introduction, easily accessible to most readers • Individual chapters focus on particular issues Con: • None Description: • Explains the history, development, and nature of humanism • Argues that humanism has a lot to offer, if people give it a chance Book Review It’s a curious contradiction that cultural humanism is such a fundamental part of Western society but organized humanist movements are small, marginalized, and in some places (like America) even vilified for influence they do not have and cannot muster. Part of the problem may in fact be just that sort of vilification â€" most people don’t know a great deal about humanism aside from what they hear from humanism’s critics. More education about humanism could possibly rectify this situation. What kinds of resources exist for educating people about humanism? Not enough, that’s for sure, so Jim Herrick’s Humanism: An Introduction is a welcome addition. Herrick has been intimately involved in various humanist organizations for years and this relatively short book provides a very readable, very straightforward introduction to the history, nature, and principles of humanism. Each chapter is about how humanism approaches particular issues: morality, religion, politics, science, arts, the environment, etc. One important thing that should become clear in each case is hat there is no single humanist perspective on such issues. Humanist morality is based upon pragmatism and experience, but there is no single humanist conclusion on issues like abortion or capital punishment. Humanism values the importance of the arts, but there is no single humanist conclusion on the nature of art or what makes for “good” art. Humanism is usually nonreligious, but there is no single humanist position on the value of religion, the history of religion, or how to respond to religion. Some might try to conclude from this that humanism is therefore irrelevant â€" if humanism doesn’t provide answers to our questions, then what good is it? This, I think, is a misunderstanding not only about humanism but also what a mature, rational philosophy should be doing in the first place. If a philosophy merely gives answers, then it only encourages obedience and submission; if, on the other hand, a philosophy gives you the tools to develop your own answers, then it encourages personal development, critical thinking, and reasoning skills. Humanism: An Introduction, by Jim Herrick Although Herrick makes some slight acknowledgments that humanism doesn’t necessarily imply atheism (“Humanism is atheism/agnosticism with values”) he more often suggests that humanists are necessarily atheists and can’t be agnostic theists. The more common and more important refrain that humanism has no ideology, dogma, or creed should lead readers to understand that this is not the case â€" that humanism, being focused upon principles, does not mandate particular conclusions about such questions. Humanism, then, doesn’t provide final answers; instead, humanism provides a way of thinking about the world, about humans’ place in it, and about our interactions with other humans. This way of thinking challenges traditional religions and traditional religious assumptions. It’s a threat, in fact, to the way religion is accustomed to doing things, and that’s likely why it is vilified despite the absence of any strong influence of humanism over modern politics. This is a shame and it seems implausible that it will change any time soon, but the more people learn about humanism and what it has to offer them, the more likely it is that change can come.

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