1. Humanism Dialogue Education 2009
THIS CD HAS BEEN PRODUCED FOR TEACHERS TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM. IT IS A CONDITION OF THE USE OF THIS CD THAT IT BE USED ONLY BY THE PEOPLE FROM SCHOOLS THAT HAVE PURCHASED THE CD ROM FROM DIALOGUE EDUCATION. (THIS DOES NOT PROHIBIT ITS USE ON A SCHOOL’S INTRANET).

2. Content Page 3 - The origins of Humanism
Pages 4 to 9 - Defining the term Humanism
Pages 10 - Speciesism?
Page 11- Video interview with Peter Singer
Page 12 - Humanism and Optimism
Page 13 - Humanism - A Life Stance
Page 14 - Secular Humanism
Pages 15 to 16 - Religious Humanism
Page 17 - Bibliography

3. Humanism
The origins of contemporary humanism can be traced back through the Renaissance and back to the Islamic Golden Age to its ancient Greek roots. Humanism can also be traced back to the time of Gautama Buddha (563–483 BCE) and Confucius (551–479 BCE) and the Warring States Period, though the term humanism is more widely associated with Western philosophers.

4. Humanism
The term humanism was coined in 1808, based on the 15th century Italian term umanista, which was used to designate a teacher or student of classic literature. The evolution of the meaning of the word humanism is fully explored in Nicolas Walter's Humanism – What's in the Word.

5. Humanism Humanism is a broad category of
ethical philosophies that affirm
the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appealing to universal human qualities, particularly rationality. It is a component of a variety of more specific philosophical systems and has been incorporated into several religious schools of thought. Humanism can be considered as a process by which truth and morality is sought through human investigation.

6. Humanism In focusing on the capacity for
self-determination, humanism rejects transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on belief without reason, the supernatural, or texts of allegedly divine origin. Humanists endorse universal morality based on the commonality of the human condition, suggesting that solutions to human social and cultural problems cannot be parochial.

7. Humanism
Humanism rejects deference to supernatural beliefs in resolving human affairs but not necessarily the beliefs themselves; indeed some strains of Humanism are compatible with some religions. It is generally compatible with atheism and agnosticism but doesn't require either of these. The word "ignostic" (American) or "indifferentist" (British, including OED) are sometimes applied to Humanism, on the grounds that Humanism is an ethical process, not a dogma about the existence or otherwise of gods; Humanists simply have no need to be concerned with such questions. Agnosticism or atheism on their own do not necessarily entail Humanism; many different and sometimes incompatible philosophies happen to be atheistic in nature. There is no one ideology or set of behaviours to which all atheists adhere, and not all are humanistic.

8. Humanism
As Humanism encompasses intellectual currents running through a wide variety of philosophical and religious thought, several strains of Humanism allow it to fulfil, supplement or supplant the role of religions, and in particular, to be embraced as a complete life stance. In a number of countries, for the purpose of laws that give rights to "religions", the secular life stance has become legally recognized as equivalent to a "religion" for this purpose. In the United States, the Supreme Court recognized that Humanism is equivalent to a religion in the limited sense of authorizing Humanists to conduct ceremonies commonly carried out by officers of religious bodies. The relevant passage is in a footnote to Torcaso v. Watkins (1961). It is often alleged by fundamentalist critics of Humanism that the Supreme Court "declared Humanism to be a religion," however the Court's statement, a mere footnote at most, clearly does not in fact do so; it simply asserts an equivalency of Humanists' right to act in ways usual to a religion, such as ceremonial recognition of life's landmarks.

9. Knowledge According to Humanism, it is up to
humans to find the truth, as opposed
to seeking it through revelation,
mysticism, tradition, or anything else that is incompatible with the application of logic to the observable evidence. In demanding that humans avoid blindly accepting unsupported beliefs, it supports scientific skepticism and the scientific method, rejecting authoritarianism and extreme skepticism, and rendering faith an unacceptable basis for action. Likewise, Humanism asserts that knowledge of right and wrong is based on the best understanding of one's individual and joint interests, rather than stemming from a transcendental truth or an arbitrarily local source.

10. Speciesism
Some have interpreted Humanism to be a form of speciesism, regarding humans as being more important than other species. The philosopher Peter Singer, himself a Humanist, stated that "despite many individual exceptions, Humanists have, on the whole, been unable to free themselves from one of the most central... Christian dogmas: the prejudice of speciesism". He called on Humanists to "take a stand against... ruthless exploitation of other sentient beings", and took issue with statements in the Humanist Manifesto II, which he felt gave "precedence to the interests of members of our own species.“ He also noted, however, that the same Manifesto stated that humans have "no God-given or inherent right to subdue other animals", and acknowledged that "the organizations that have done the most for animals have been independent of religion."

11. Video interview with Professor Peter Singer about Speciesism.
Click on the image to the right. You will need to be connected to the internet to view this presentation.
Enlarge to full screen
To insert this slide into your presentation
Save this template as a presentation (.ppt file) on your computer.
Open the presentation that will contain the image slide.
On the Slides tab, place your insertion point after the slide that will precede the image slide. (Make sure you don't select a slide. Your insertion point should be between the slides.)
On the Insert menu, click Slides from Files.
In the Slide Finder dialog box, click the Find Presentation tab.
Click Browse, locate and select the presentation that contains the image slide, and then click Open.
In the Slides from Files dialog box, select the image slide.
Select the Keep source formatting check box. If you do not select this check box, the copied slide will inherit the design of the slide that precedes it in the presentation.
Click Insert.
Click Close.

12. Optimism
Humanism features an optimistic attitude about the capacity of people, but it does not involve believing that human nature is purely good or that all people can live up to the Humanist ideals without help. If anything, there is the recognition that living up to one's potential is hard work and requires the assistance of others. The ultimate goal is human flourishing; making life better for all humans, and as the most conscious species, also promoting concern for the welfare of other sentient beings. The focus is on doing good and living well in the here and now, and leaving the world better for those who come after.

13. Humanism (life stance)
Humanism (capital 'H', no adjective such as "secular") is a comprehensive life stance that upholds human reason, ethics, and justice, and rejects supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition.
The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is the world union of more than one hundred Humanist, rationalist, secular, ethical culture, and freethought organizations in more than 40 countries. The Happy Human is the official symbol of the IHEU as well as being regarded as a universally recognised symbol for those that call themselves Humanists (as opposed to "humanists"). In 2002 the IHEU General Assembly unanimously adopted the Amsterdam Declaration 2002 which represents the official defining statement of World Humanism.
All member organisations of the International Humanist and Ethical Union are required by IHEU bylaw 5.1 to accept the IHEU Minimum Statement on Humanism:
Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality.

14. Secular Humanism
Secular humanism is the branch of humanism that rejects theistic religious belief and adherence to belief in the existence of a supernatural world.
When people speak of Humanism in general, they are sometimes referring to secular humanism as a default meaning. Some secular humanists take this even further by denying that less anti-religious humanists qualify as genuine humanists. Others feel that the ethical side of humanism transcends the issue of religion, because being a good person is more important than rejecting supernatural beliefs. The Humanist Manifestos, which represent consensus statements of Humanists, present Humanism as an ethical process and a religion through which we can move above and beyond both the divisive particulars of older religious stances and the negation of these.
The secular humanist movement, by that name, hardly existed prior to In 1979, Paul Kurtz lost his position as editor of The Humanist.
Departing the American Humanist Association, he then
launched his own publication, Free Inquiry, and founded
the Council for Secular Humanism independently of the
American Humanist Association yet pursuing essentially
similar goals.

15. Religious Humanism Religious humanism is an attempt to derive
morality from religious grounds. It includes
theist or deist influences without necessarily being allied with organized religion. Religious humanism holds appeal for some Unitarian Universalists, Quakers, Lutherans, Presbyterians and Anglicans. Subscribers to a religion who do not hold supernatural assertions as a necessary source for their moral values may be religious humanists.

16. Humanism
A Jewish form of Humanism was developed by the late Rabbi Sherwin Wine, who, in the fall of 1963 along with eight families in the northern suburbs of Detroit formed The Birmingham Temple. As the philosophy of "Jewish Humanism" took hold many other communities formed additional "temples" throughout the United States. Rabbi Wine was instrumental in training other Rabbis and lay people as leaders in those communities. Soon thereafter he founded the Society for Humanistic Judaism, now a worldwide movement with 40,000 adherents.

17. Bibliography
Petrosyan, M Humanism: Its Philosophical, Ethical, and Sociological Aspects, Progress Publishers, Moscow.
Barry, P Beginning Theory: an introduction to literary and cultural theory, 2nd edn, Manchester University Press, Manchester, U.K., p. 36
Everything2, 2002 Liberal Humanism,
Liberal Humanism (Modernism) and Postmodernism 2001,
Moon, B Literary terms: a practical glossary, 2nd edn, Chalkface Press, Cotteslow, W.A., Australia, p.62
PhilWeb: Theoretical Resources Off– and On–line. "Liberal Humanism."
Wikipedia-Humanism