Greg M. Epstein: Secular Humanism

Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns, attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. According to Greg M. Epstein, "Humanism today can be categorized as a movement, a philosophy of life or worldview, or ... [a] lifestance."[1] In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism
Secular humanism is a secular ideology which espouses reason, ethics, and justice, whilst specifically rejecting supernatural and religious dogma as a basis of morality and decision-making. Secular humanism contrasts with religious humanism, which is an integration
of humanist ethical philosophy with religious rituals and beliefs that center on human needs, interests, and abilities.[2] Renaissance humanism is a cultural movement of the Italian Renaissance based on the study of classical works.[3][4]
Religious and secular humanism arose from a trajectory extending from the deism and anti-clericalism of the Enlightenment, the various secular movements of the 19th century (such as positivism), and the overarching expansion of the scientific project
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists.[1] It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval scholastic education, emphasizing practical, pre-professional and -scientific studies.
Scholasticism focused on preparing men to be doctors, lawyers or professional theologians, and was taught from approved textbooks in logic, natural philosophy, medicine, law and theology.[2] The main centers of humanism were Florence and
Naples.[3]
Rather than train professionals in jargon and strict practice, humanists sought to create a citizenry (sometimes including women) able to speak and write with eloquence and clarity. Thus, they would be capable of better engaging the civic life of their communities and persuading others to virtuous and prudent actions. This was to be accomplished through the study of the studia humanitatis, today known as the humanities: grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry and moral philosophy.[4]
Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser coined the term "antihumanism." Antihumanism (or anti-humanism) is a term referring to a number of perspectives that are opposed to the project of philosophical anthropology.
Central to antihumanism is the view that concepts of "human nature", and "man" or "humanity", should be rejected as historically relative or metaphysical, and the rejection of the view that humans are autonomous subjects, and should not be considered as individuals, but rather as parts of a society. Human rights and individual rights are rejected in favor of collectivism.
The term is usually restricted to the realm of social theory and philosophy. Antihumanism does not refer to some form of misanthropy.
Posthumanism or post-humanism (meaning "after humanism" or "beyond humanism") is a term with five definitions: 1. Antihumanism: a term applied to a number of thinkers opposed to the project of philosophical anthropology.[citation needed] 2. Cultural posthumanism: a cultural direction which strives to move beyond archaic concepts of "human nature" to develop ones which constantly adapt to contemporary technoscientific
knowledge.[1] 3. Philosophical posthumanism: a philosophical direction which is critical of the foundational assumptions of Renaissance humanism and its legacy.[citation needed] 4. Transhumanism: an ideology and movement which seeks to develop and make available technologies that eliminate aging and greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities, in order to achieve a "posthuman future".[2] 5. Posthuman condition: the deconstruction of the human condition by critical theorists.[3]