Humanism

Our executive has been using this description for a little while:

Humanism is a world view that says reason and science are the best ways to understand the world around us, and dignity and compassion should be the basis for how we act toward others.

Here are some other short descriptions of Humanism. Humanist Canada says:

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life based on a profound respect for human dignity and the conviction that human beings are ultimately accountable to themselves and to society for their actions. It is a secular worldview that affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical and meaningful lives.

Humanists International's Minimum Statement on Humanism reads:

Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance that affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. Humanism stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethics based on human and other natural values in a spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. Humanism is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality.

Here are some pages we are working on for this section:

• Humanist Stance (3 min read) a very short introduction to what humanism is and it's evolution over the last few hundred years.
• What Is Humanism (11 min read) This is a brief primer for those who may have heard about humanism but are not quite sure what it means or how to connect with other humanists. It is written from my own (Canadian) experience and perspective with the help of some sources listed at the end of the article.

Further reading

• What is Humanism? from Humanist Canada.
• IHEU Minimum Statement on Humanism (1996)
• https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto3/ (2003) aka the Humanist Manifesto III
  • Humanist Manifesto I (1933)
  • Humanist Manifesto II (1973)
• Amsterdam Declaration (2022)
  • Amsterdam Declaration (2002)
• What Ethical Humanism stands for (1965)
• A Secular Humanist Declaration (1980)
• A Declaration of Interdependence (1988)
• The Ethics of Humanism Without Religion by Paul Kurtz (2002)
• Definition of Humanism by American Humanist Association. Collects various definitions from a variety of sources.
• The Ten Commitments (2017?) from the AHA Center for Education.
  • Living Humanist Values: The Ten Commitments (2019). This article in The Humanist includes nice big icons, but is missing the the "I will" statements.
  • The Ten Commitments Art