humanism hju menizem n. an outlook or system of thought concerned withhuman rather than divine or supernatural matters.Albert Einstein Isaac Asimov E.M. Forster... » 

humanism hju menizem n. an outlook or system of thought concerned withhuman rather than divine or supernatural matters.Albert Einstein Isaac Asimov E.M. Forster Bertrand Russell and GloriaSteinem all declared themselves humanists. What is humanism and why does itmatter? Is there any doctrine every humanist must hold? If it rejects religionwhat does it offer in its place? Have the twentieth centurys crimes againsthumanity spelled the end for humanism?On Humanism is a timely and powerfully argued philosophical defense ofhumanism. It is also an impassioned plea that we turn to ourselves notreligion if we want to answer Socrates ageold question what is the bestkind of life to lead? Although humanism has much in common with scienceRichard Norman shows that it is far from a denial of the more mysteriousfragile side of being human. He deals with big questions such as theenvironment Darwinism and creation science euthanasia and abortion andthen argues that it is ultimately through the human capacity for artliterature and the imagination that humanism is a powerful alternative toreligious belief.Drawing on a varied range of examples from Aristotle to Primo Levi and thenovels of Virginia Woolf and Graham Swift On Humanism is a lucid and muchneeded reflection on this much talked about but little understood phenomenon. «