The Devil and Secular Humanism

The Devil and Secular Humanism
Author: Howard Radest
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 184
Release: 1990-11-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0313388547

There is currently much confusion about the nature of humanism and a good deal of interest in its point of view. As the object of attack and suspicion by fundamentalists, conservatives, and traditional religionists, Howard B. Radest believes that humanism deserves a clear and responsible treatment. He accomplishes this in this book by clarifying the nature of humanism in historical and current thought. The Enlightenment, Radest states, gave birth to a number of humanist values that are still being worked out in today's societies. He reconstructs how humanist values have been considered dangerous by those who fear a change in the status quo. Humanism, Radest maintains, is the true descendant of the age of reason and freedom. In this unique volume, humanism is viewed as being misunderstood by both traditionalists and the humanists themselves. Radest does not wish to disparage traditional beliefs, but he emphasizes that humanism is a legitimate philosophical, ideological, and religious alternative--a party to the current struggle for a postmodern life philosophy. The Devil and Secular Humanism examines humanism in a more comprehensive way than most current literature, and it includes an assessment of the prospects for humanism in the years ahead. It will be of great use to a literate, but nontechnical, audience who are engaged in philosophy, religion, law, and politics.

In Defense of Secular Humanism

In Defense of Secular Humanism
Author: Paul Kurtz
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2010-09-09
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1615926402

A spirited defense of secular humanism against fundamentalist critics.

Is Man the Measure?

Is Man the Measure?
Author: Norman L. Geisler
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2005-07-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1597522996

An academically respectable description and evaluation of secular humanism is available at last. The diversity within humanism receives full recognition in this book, as does the fact that not everything about humanism is bad from a Christian point of view. Indeed, the author continues, there are many emphases within humanism that are compatible with Christian beliefs, a thesis to which he devotes an entire chapter. Part 1 summarizes in turn eight prominent forms of humanism: Huxley's evolutionism, Skinner's behaviorism, Sartre's existentialism, Dewey's pragmatism, Marxism, Rand's egocentrism, Lamont's culturalism, and the coalitional form present in the humanist declaration and manifestoes. Emerging from these chapters are both the differences between humanists and the consensus that binds them together. It is this humanistic consensus, writes the author, that most radically conflicts with Christian beliefs and that is the number one problem in the United States today. After the chapter on the helpful emphases of secular humanism, part 2 details this movement's comparative inferiority, internal inconsistencies, religious inadequacies, and philosophical insufficiencies. The final chapter demonstrates that, while Christianity is consistent with the central principles of science, philosophy, epistemology, and ethics, humanism is not. There is no rational justification, the author concludes, for being a humanist.

What is Secular Humanism?

What is Secular Humanism?
Author: James Hitchcock
Publisher:
Total Pages: 176
Release: 1982
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN:

There are very few terms about which there is more confusion and controversy than "secular humanism." Hitchcock examines what secular humanism is, and how it affects individuals.

What is Secular Humanism?

What is Secular Humanism?
Author: Paul Kurtz
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2007
Genre: Humanism
ISBN: 9781591024996

Philosopher Paul Kurtz describes the many ways in which secular humanism's scientific, philosophical, and ethical outlook has exerted a profound influence on civilization from the ancient world to the present.

Humanism With a Human Face

Humanism With a Human Face
Author: Howard Radest
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1996-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0275949699

...argues that Humanism has its roots both in the Enlightenment and in Transcendentalism, and explores Humanism as both a public and a personal philosophy.

Secular Humanism

Secular Humanism
Author: Paul F. Kisak
Publisher:
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2017-08
Genre:
ISBN: 9781975901899

" Humanity Without Politics, Religion, Dogma or Ritual "Secular humanism embraces the common humanity of the human race. In general, Secular Humanism promotes human reason, ethics, social justice, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition as the bases of morality and decision making. Secular humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or a god. It does not, however, assume that humans are either inherently evil or innately good, nor does it present humans as being superior to nature. Rather, the humanist life stance emphasizes the unique responsibility facing humanity and the ethical consequences of human decisions. Fundamental to the concept of secular humanism is the strongly held viewpoint that ideology-be it religious or political-must be thoroughly examined by each individual and not simply accepted or rejected on faith. Along with this, an essential part of secular humanism is a continually adapting search for truth, primarily through science and philosophy. Many secular humanists derive their moral codes from a philosophy of utilitarianism, ethical naturalism, or evolutionary ethics, and some advocate a science of morality.This book is designed to be a state of the art, superb academic reference work and provide an overview of the topic and give the reader a structured knowledge to familiarize yourself with the topic at the most affordable price possible.The accuracy and knowledge is of an international viewpoint as the edited articles represent the inputs of many knowledgeable individuals and some of the most current knowledge on the topic, based on the date of publication.

Humanism and the Death of God

Humanism and the Death of God
Author: Ronald E. Osborn
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2017-01-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0192510991

Humanism and the Death of God is a critical exploration of secular humanism and its discontents. Through close readings of three exemplary nineteenth-century philosophical naturalists or materialists, who perhaps more than anyone set the stage for our contemporary quandaries when it comes to questions of human nature and moral obligation, Ronald E. Osborn argues that "the death of God" ultimately tends toward the death of liberal understandings of the human as well. Any fully persuasive defense of humanistic values--including the core humanistic concepts of inviolable dignity, rights, and equality attaching to each individual--requires an essentially religious vision of personhood. Osborn shows such a vision is found in an especially dramatic and historically consequential way in the scandalous particularity of the Christian narrative of God becoming a human. He does not attempt to provide logical proofs for the central claims of Christian humanism along the lines some philosophers might demand. Instead, this study demonstrates how philosophical naturalism or materialism, and secular humanisms and anti-humanisms, might be persuasively read from the perspective of a classically orthodox Christian faith.