What is Humanism Richard Norman Understanding Humanism Teachers

What is Humanism? Richard Norman ‘Understanding Humanism’ Teachers’ Conference 11 July 2017

Humanism • “I always teach the case against religious belief as well as the case for. ” • Presenting humanism as a positive view of life • Belief in living a good life without religion

Why ‘humanism’? • • Human Reason Human Creativity Human Responsibility Human Values

Human Reason • Scientific progress: – Copernican theory of planets – Newtonian physics – Kant-Laplace nebular hypothesis – Scientific geology, age of the earth – Evolution by natural selection • No short cuts, no divinely revealed truths • Humans are physical beings, no continuing consciousness after death – we have one life

Human Creativity • Science isn’t everything • Use of our imagination to express our thoughts and feelings and create new worlds • Not just the high arts • Through stories, pictures, music, we make sense of our own lives • We come to understand other people’s lives and are able to imagine what it is like for them.

Käthe Kollwitz, ‘Mothers’

Rembrandt – ‘Self-portrait’

Constable – ‘Boatbuilding near Flatford Mill’

Turner – ‘Shape and Darkness – the Evening of the Deluge’

Monet – ‘Poppies’

Van Gogh – ‘Wheatfield with Crows’

Human Responsibility • No divine plan, no fate, no pre-given meaning or purpose • We find our own meaning • We can make a better world for ourselves • We have to make our own moral decisions

Human Values • Core values which are shared human values • Kindness, compassion, honesty, loyalty, fairness, justice, etc. • The golden rule: treat others as you would wish to be treated • Built into human life - we are social beings

Humanism • Why Humanism doesn’t fit easily into RE templates • What are your symbols, rituals, practices, festivals, sacred texts, sacred places? • They are ones which we share with everyone.