A
Progressive
Living
World Religion
Overview
|
Founding Figures
|
Socrates — c. 469 - 399 BC
Confucius — 551 - 479 BC |
Places of Origin
|
Athens, Greece
Shandong province, China |
Core Beliefs
|
The world is fundamentally material in nature. All beliefs should be logically consistent, and founded on good evidence, which is to say they must be rational. Human beings share a common humanity, which serves as the foundation for values. The full development of human capabilities, health, and human relationships in the context of shared responsibility for a just society are key objectives. Disciminatory practices based on race, religion, gender, wealth, or national origin are held to be unwarranted. (For a more formal definition, see this link.) |
Theology
|
There may or may not be one or more supreme beings, but if there are, we presently have no reason to suppose that they will prove to be supernatural in nature, nor can allegedly divine commands be accepted at face value. Rather, they must be judged in light of our own best understanding of ethics. Belief in entities of any kind should be grounded in evidence, and the evidence for supreme beings is, to date, weak. |
Cosmology
|
Humanistic cosmological views are still evolving, but the universe is thought to have originated something like 14 billion years ago, and to be uniformly material in nature throughout. |
Primary Scriptures or Writings
|
There is no single, authoritative source of humanistic beliefs, and all such beliefs are still evolving. Key ethical insights have been provided, in previous centuries, by Socrates, Aristotle, Confucius, and Kant, and in modern times by such philosophers as Brand Blanshard and Thomas Hurka. Views concerning the nature of the universe are grounded in science, and remain controversial in key aspects. A central controversy concerns the proper interpretation of materialism, and whether reductionistic accounts will suffice or must instead be supplemented or replaced by emergentism. |
Primary Subdivisions
|
There are two main variants of Humanism: secular and religious. Secular humanists either reject the existence of supreme beings or else remain uncommitted, while religious humanists remain open to the possibility of supreme beings of some kind, though profess no certain knowledge of their nature. |
Assessment
|
Humanism offers the most rational and well-grounded belief system ever developed, and is the only belief system fully consistent with what is known of science. Some variant of humanism could serve to unify an ideologically divided world, but tends to be attacked by authoritarian religions of all sorts. The reductionistic materialism advocated by some leads directly to nihilism, and so grounds for its acceptance or rejection must be scrupulously examined. However, there are compelling reasons to reject reductionism in favor of emergentism. Humanists must strive hard to offer sound, practical wisdom, to refrain from demonizing those of other beliefs, and to put forward a positive, constructive agenda. |
Primary Resources in Print
|
See the ethics topic in the philosophy guide provided elsewhere at this site. |
Web Resources
|
American Humanist Association (AHA)
Council for Secular Humanism |
|