Humanism is an ethical doctrine that asserts the central importance of human life and experience on earth and the right and duty of each individual to explore and develop their potential. In the social sciences humanism is evident in those groups who argue that social theory must conceive of the human actor as a subject rather than an object. Humanism affirms the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities. Speciesism is discrimination against certain animal species by humans, based on an assumption of human superiority. Humanism is, to some extent, in opposition to religious doctrines, like Christianity, that diminish the importance of earthly life and assert that human existence is merely a stage of preparation for heavenly life after death.
Contemporary use of the term humanism is consistent with the historical use, while Renaissance humanism is a retronym used to distinguish it from later humanist developments. Leaders of humanistic psychology advanced other worldly concerns over worldly ones. "Secular humanism" in the style of Chein, Fromm, and Murray was essentially unrepresented in the movement, and May's tragic view did not prevail.
Materialism and
Humanism - Organization Theory's Odd Couple
Allyn A. Morrow and Frederick C. Thayer. Many argue that work should meet
individual needs for fulfillment, which is humanism, while meeting needs for personal income and
organizational productivity, which is materialism. Using a comparative analysis drawn from
organization theory,best replica watches
organizatronal humanism, social philosophy, and political theory, the
article demonstrates that compatibility of the two modes is a critical issue throughout
social thought.
Humanism In The Renaissance and Reformation
Era
Paul
Grendler. In the opinion
of the majority of scholars, it began in late-14th-century Italy, came to
maturity in the 15th century, and spread to the rest of Europe after the middle
of that century. Humanism then became the dominant intellectual movement in
Europe in the 16th century. Some scholars also argue that humanism articulated
new moral and civic perspectives and values offering guidance in life.
Humanism transcended the differences between the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, as leaders of both religious movements studied and used the ancient Latin and Greek classics. Because of the vast importance and broad scope of humanism, it is not surprising that scholars have studied it intensively and view it in different ways. This article provides a sampling of some of the best and most influential scholarship on the subject and demonstrates the broad impact of humanism in the era of the Renaissance and Reformation.
The origins of humanism - Nicholas Mann. Edited by Jill Kraye, Warburg Institute, London. The history of humanism exemplifies both those continuities and a sense of renewal. The term itself owes its origin to the Latin humanitas, used by Cicero and others in classical times to betoken the kind of cultural values that one would derive from what used to be called a liberal education.
Animal Rights Versus Humanism - The Charge of Speciesism - Kenneth J. Shapiro. About the compatibility of humanistic psychology with the emerging animal rights movement. The article applies certain concepts of contemporary animal rights philosophy, notably "speciesism," to both the philosophy of humanism and humanistic psychology. While on a philosophical level, certain concepts are discussed that would likely block a rapprochement, I feel that humanistic psychologists as individuals are likely to extend their compassion to non-human animals. A review of philosophical humanism reveals that its important concept of individuality excludes non-human animals. Within this conception, animals simply are not individuals.
Agnes Heller and the Question of Humanism - John Grumley. This article explores the vagaries of Agnes Heller's relationship to humanism. It initially outlines a brief account of both the historical adventures of humanism and of the great debates in the middle of the 20th century that conditioned the contemporary reception of the concept of humanism. The article points to both the commonalities and differences with the contemporary critical humanism of Tzvetan Todorov. It is argued that despite the many parallels, these differences signify Heller's final parting of the ways with humanism strictly speaking and also represent unresolved issues for any reanimation of contemporary humanism.
In Dispraise of
Existential Humanism in Educational Administration -
Sammuel H. Popper.
Conceptions of "humanism" and "freedom," it is argued, evolve within
the value matrix of an indigenous culture and, therefore, each society fashions its own
definitions of them as well as its own institutional sanctions for their enforcement. This
constitutes the major premise of a "response" to Professor Harry J. Hartley's
chapter, "Humanistic Existentialism and the School Administrator," in Toward
Improved Urban Education.
Psychology and Humanism -
M. Brewster Smith.
Humanistic psychology as a social movement was indigestible for many humanistically
oriented academic psychologists. Their students wanted easy therapeutic gimmicks, and they
saw humanistic psychology as justifying a comfortably optimistic view of people in the
world.
Humanism and the Training of Applied Behavioral Scientists -
Lawrence N. Solomon.
A philosophy of humanism provides a valuational base for the activities of applied
behavioral scientists. The historical roots of the humanistic orientation are traced and
contrasted with the normative orientation in Western thought.
Postmodern Liberalism as a New Humanism - Andrzej Szahaj.
Postmodern liberalism does not express any reluctance toward community as such. It only
requires a community which respects the rights of individuals to autonomous, moral and
comprehensive choices. In this sense one can say that postmodern liberalism renounces
anti-social biases while remaining faithful to individualism, which - starting with the
social and the common - arrives at the truly individual. In this way it can revitalize the
sense and meaning of humanism understood as the idea of life of human beings who can
create their own lives independently and freely in the political and social milieu,
promoting justice and solidarity.
For a Feeling Humanism: The Political Emergence of the Emotions -
Muniz Sodre.
If the revival of humanism depends on closing the gap between differences, western and
eastern perspectives on the world diverge: the first uses History as its guide and the
second uses the notion of destiny. Between the logical power of western instrumental
rationalism and the affective power of the feeling modes of knowledge like liturgy and
music, the West should be able to accept difference and reject both closed identities and
absolute alterities.
The Reconciliation of Humanism and Positivism in the Practice of Consumer
Research: A View from the Trenches - Timothy B. Heath.
Consumer researchers commonly assert that humanism differs from positivism (what is
referred to here as naturalism) on a number of dimensions. However, it is shown here that
once terminological differences and methodological similarities are recognized, the
remaining differences between humanism and naturalism within consumer research are few.
"Humanism and Scholasticism In the Italian Renaissance", Byzantion 17 (1944–45), pp. 346–74.