Today is World Humanist Day! Humanists are people who believe in a natural universe as understood through reason, people who wish to live ethical and meaningful lives without faith in the supernatural, and people who care for their fellow human being. Humanists are informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion. The International Humanist & Ethical Union (IHEU) says:

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

The Humanist Manifesto III was signed in 2003 by a long list of people, including notable figures from science, education, literature, entertainment, and other sectors. It was a successor to the first manifesto, published in 1933, and the second published in 1973. In the Humanist Manifesto III, the American Humanist Association outlined the following basic principles of Humanism:

Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis.

Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change.

Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience.

Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals.

Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships.

Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness.

For a reading of these principles explained in more detail, please see the complete Humanist Manifesto III.

See also: The Really Simple Guide to Humanism

Humanist Institutions

Consistent with Humanism’s values of Freethought and a healthy skepticism that questions dogma, there is no officially recognized ‘authority’ for the Humanist life stance. However, Humanist groups exist at many different scales all over the world. Perhaps the broadest organization is the International Humanist & Ethical Union (IHEU). It can best be said to represent the views of over three million Humanists in over 100 national organizations in 30 countries.

Here in the United States, the American Humanist Association (AHA) is the oldest national-level Humanist organization. Another major national organization is the Council for Secular Humanism. Both of these organizations publish magazines and have several types of programs and facilities throughout the U.S. There are many other organizations growing all the time, such as the Institute for Humanist Studies and the Humanist Institute, for example.

Click Here to find a Humanist Group in YOUR area

The History of Humanism

Humanism as an organized, provisional philosophy is relatively new but it is the product of several millennia of human growth and development. Hints of scientific and humanist thought can be found among the earliest nomadic tribes and civilizations. The Ideas of some of the later classical Greek philosophers, as well as the Chinese Confucians, serve to highlight areas where human-centered (as opposed to god-centered) ideas were especially prevalent.

During the Middle Ages of Western Europe, humanist philosophies, such as those of Michael Servetus and others, were violently suppressed by the dogma and political power of the church. Not until the Renaissance of the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries, with the flourishing of art, music, literature, philosophy, and exploration, would consideration of humanism be permitted.

The Enlightenment of the eighteenth century brought the development of science as philosophers finally began to openly criticize the authority of the church and engage in what became known as “free thought.” In the nineteenth century, with the challenges to religion by celebrities such as Mark Twain and Robert G. Ingersoll, the Freethought movement made it possible for the common citizen to reject faith and superstition without risk of persecution.

The twentieth century has seen remarkable influence from science, technology, and Humanist philosophy. Despite attempts of the unscrupulous to twist science to serve their ends, despite continuing local fluctuations in crime or other problems, the overall growth, prosperity, and human well-being remains unparalleled throughout history. This is a direct result of scientific thinking in the solving of human problems.

These historical foundations have led those who reject supernaturalism as a viable philosophical outlook to adopt the term Humanism to describe their non-religious life stance. In 1933 the modern Humanist philosophy was formulated in the Humanist Manifesto and several organizations have been founded around the world since then. It is with such a rich history that we strive to carry Humanism into the future.

Special thanks to Amanda Chesworth, who co-wrote this section on the history of Humanism.

Well Known Humanists

Many notable people have been humanists or humanistic thinkers. You can click on any of those listed here to see their Wikipedia articles:

Albert Einstein, scientist

Gene Roddenberry, producer/Star Trek creator

Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President/founding father

Whoopi Goldberg, comedian/entertainer

Carl Sagan, scientist/author

Joss Whedon, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly creator

Leonardo Da Vinci, artist/inventor

Mark Twain, author

Clara Barton, Red Cross founder

Isaac Asimov, author

Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood founder

Confucius, philosopher

Marlon Brando, actor

Jonas Salk, physician/inventor of polio vaccine

Ted Turner, broadcaster

Gloria Steinem, feminist activist

Kurt Vonnegut, author

Philip Adams, author/filmmaker

Margaret Atwood, author/literary freedom activist

Béla Bartók, composer

Luther Burbank, scientist

Brock Chisholm, physician/World Health Org. Director

Francis Crick, scientist

John Dewey, philosopher/educator

Frederick Douglas, liberator

Albert Ellis, psychologist

Epicurus, philosopher

Philip José Farmer, author

Betty Friedan, feminist activist

Erich Fromm, psychologist

R. Buckminster Fuller, futurist/inventor

John K. Galbraith, economist

Emma Goldman, author/revolutionary

Stephen J. Gould, scientist/author

Julian Huxley, philosopher/biologist/UNESCO Director

Robert G. Ingersoll, author

Margaret Kuhn, Grey Panthers founder

Richard Leakey, anthropologist

Abraham Maslow, psychologist

John Boyd Orr, Food & Agriculture Org. first Director

Linus Pauling, scientist

A. Philip Randolf, human rights activist/union leader

Carl Rogers, psychologist

M.N. Roy, political thinker/Radical Humanism founder

Bertrand Russell, mathematician/philosopher

Andrei Sakharov, scientist/human rights activist

Michael Servetus, theologian/physician

Barbara Smoker, author/freethought activist

James Thurber, humorist

Harriet Tubman, educator

James Watson, scientist

Faye Wattleton, Planned Parenthood Director

Walt Whitman, poet

E.O. Wilson, biologist

Frank Lloyd Wright, architect

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