WHAT IS HUMANISM?

The reader will reasonably expect a definition of the -ism in question so we shall know what is being talked about. And I will offer one presently. But I am conscious that to start with a definition – while in accordance with tradition – may not be entirely appropriate. I say this because a key task of this book will be to characterize the object, or rather the subject, of humanism – our human being. I shall be working towards, rather than jumping off from, a (relatively) sharp-edged idea of “human being”. Given, also, that humanism, like humanity, is a work in progress, definitions run the risk of premature foreclosure.

Nevertheless, we must begin somewhere. Here is an attempt, by British philosopher and humanist Stephen Law in his excellent introduction to humanism, to characterize an outlook whose boundaries, he concedes, are very elastic. Humanism, he says:

• • Embraces agnosticism or atheism;

• • Advocates the application of science and reason more generally to all areas of life;

• • Assumes that this life is the only life we have;

• • Argues that we should embrace an ethics informed by study of what human beings are actually like and what will help them flourish in this world;

• • Asserts that we have individual moral autonomy: we should make our own judgements rather than handing over responsibility to an external authority;

• • Affirms that life can have meaning without being bestowed from above by God;

• • Argues that we should favour an open, democratic society in which the state takes a neutral position with respect to religion.

That is quite a headful – encompassing metaphysical, epistemological, cultural, ethical, and political positions – so let us simplify things by quoting a standard definition. Where better to look than the website of Humanists UK? There we learn that humanism is: “A non-religious ethical life-stance the essential elements of which are a commitment to human well-being and a reliance on reason, experience, and a naturalistic view of the world”.

This may seem straightforward, yet it invites critical examination. Those who are not humanists will resent the suggestion that “the commitment to human well-being and a reliance on reason” is a distinguishing mark of humanists.