Feb 14, 2023
We can define our terms as we like. But my understanding of the history of humanism, from the Renaissance and its ancient Greco-Roman roots onwards, is that humanism is about celebrating the powers of our species. The secular version secularizes the Judeo-Christian and Orphic myths that we're special because we're made in God's image or because we carry a lost spark of divinity.
Humanism thus has the downside that it might be self-destructive since in privileging our species, we tend to wipe out or dismiss everything else, such as the world's ecosystems. And this is reflected in the simple dictionary definition of the word: "Humanism: any system or mode of thought or action in which human interests, values, and dignity predominate."
