- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Humanism in East Asia
- Humanism in Africa
- Humanism in the Middle East
- Humanism in the Americas
- Humanism in Europe
- Humanism in the Medieval World
- Humanism and the Renaissance
- Humanism and Enlightenment
- Humanism and the Modern Age
- Humanism Against Religion
- Humanism as a Religious Orientation?
- Humanism and Its Critics
- Humanism and Literature
- Humanism and Film
- Humanism and Music
- Humanism and Humor
- Humanism and the Visual Arts
- Humanism and Sport
- The Politics of Humanism
- Humanism and Political Identity
- Humanism and Higher Education
- Humanism and the Human
- Humanism and Environmentalism
- Humanism and Gender
- Humanism and Race
- Humanism, Sex, and Sexuality
- Humanism and Class
- The Practice of Humanism
- Humanism and the Conceptualization of Value and Well-Being
- Humanism and Aging
- The Changing Demographics of Humanism
- Humanism and Technology
- Can Humanism be the Social Norm?
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
While the varieties of humanist expression vary across cultural and historical contexts, all forms of humanism are necessarily related to politics by virtue of outlining ethical positions on matters of social relations. Tracing the history of humanism broadly, as well as secular humanism specifically, this chapter identifies recurring continua of conflict about the politics of humanism. There is a general, inherent tension between individualist and collectivist dimensions of humanism, which is manifest in specific disputes about orientations toward society (philosophical vs. applied humanism), religion (exclusivist vs. ecumenical humanism), ethics (scientistic vs. humanitarian humanism), and politics (libertarian vs. socialist humanism). There are also disputes within humanism that arise around the preferred strategy for managing the stigma of secularity between those who favor separatist subcultures and those who favor normalization through social reform. Ultimately a broad-based conception of humanism offers the greatest possibilities for political efficacy. In conclusion, the article outlines some of the important aspects of humanism and politics in need of further research.
Keywords: secular humanism, Western humanism, atheism, New Atheism, scientism, politics, secularism, progressivism, Social Darwinism, secular stigma
Department of Sociology, East Tennessee State University
Access to the complete content on Oxford Handbooks Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us.
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Humanism in East Asia
- Humanism in Africa
- Humanism in the Middle East
- Humanism in the Americas
- Humanism in Europe
- Humanism in the Medieval World
- Humanism and the Renaissance
- Humanism and Enlightenment
- Humanism and the Modern Age
- Humanism Against Religion
- Humanism as a Religious Orientation?
- Humanism and Its Critics
- Humanism and Literature
- Humanism and Film
- Humanism and Music
- Humanism and Humor
- Humanism and the Visual Arts
- Humanism and Sport
- The Politics of Humanism
- Humanism and Political Identity
- Humanism and Higher Education
- Humanism and the Human
- Humanism and Environmentalism
- Humanism and Gender
- Humanism and Race
- Humanism, Sex, and Sexuality
- Humanism and Class
- The Practice of Humanism
- Humanism and the Conceptualization of Value and Well-Being
- Humanism and Aging
- The Changing Demographics of Humanism
- Humanism and Technology
- Can Humanism be the Social Norm?
- Index