{"id":6623,"date":"2013-01-10T15:14:28","date_gmt":"2013-01-10T20:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=6623"},"modified":"2013-01-10T15:14:28","modified_gmt":"2013-01-10T20:14:28","slug":"straight-from-the-humanists-mouth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/01\/straight-from-the-humanists-mouth.html","title":{"rendered":"Straight from the Humanist’s Mouth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

James Croft and Vlad Chituc have both continued to contribute to the discussion of what exactly unites humanists.<\/a> \u00a0Vlad\u2019s put up a new post<\/a>, and James has posted a clarifying comment<\/a> that I\u2019ve quoted from below.<\/p>\n

You seem to think \u201cHumanism\u201d denotes a single, coherent moral system (particularly a metaethical system). He seems to think that it is some sort of equivalent to \u201cvirtue ethics\u201d or \u201cutilitarianism\u201d or something.<\/p>\n

But this is a category error. Humanism, in my understanding, can mean two things, neither of which are a single, coherent metaethical philosophy. The first sense is as a lifestance, a set of values, an orientation to the world. In this sense it is similar to \u201cChristianity\u201d when that term is used to describe some person\u2019s view of the world: people talk of \u201cmy Christianity\u201d and \u201ctheir Christianity\u201d. This is also the sense in which people say \u201cI am a Humanist\u201d (\u201cI am a Christian\u201d).<\/p>\n

The second sense is as a tradition of thought and practice which is connected by a set of guiding questions, principles, or values. In this second sense it is sort of equivalent to \u201cChristianity\u201d when that term is used to refer to a tradition of Christian thought.<\/p>\n

In neither case does the term \u201cHumanism\u201d \u2013 nor the term \u201cChristianity\u201d \u2013 give you a strong sense of one\u2019s \u201cmoral philosophy\u201d when that term is used in a technical way. Just as you can be a Utilitarian Christian and an Idealist Christian, you can be a Utilitarian Humanist and an Idealist Humanist (there have been prominent historical examples of both). Therefore the comment that Humanism is \u201cvague\u201d in comparison to discrete philosophical positions is true but not really apposite\u2026<\/p>\n

Notice the elements of [Wikipedia\u2019s] description: \u201cHumanism is a GROUP of philosophies and ethical perspectives\u201d (which is why I say it is not a SINGLE coherent philosophy); these philosophies are drawn together by guiding values or broad principles, in that they \u201cemphasize the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers individual thought and evidence (rationalism, empiricism), over established doctrine or faith (fideism).\u201d<\/p>\n

You might say this is \u201cvague\u201d, but it is not so vague that almost anyone qualifies as a humanist. The majority of other ethical and philosophical traditions (including the major religious traditions of the world) do NOT (traditionally) place such value on individual human beings; they do NOT generally prefer individual thought and evidence over established doctrine or faith. They have strikingly different guiding principles and overarching values.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If this is what James Croft\u2019s humanism is, than that\u2019s fine, but then I just don\u2019t care very much about that adjective. \u00a0I want to know what\u00a0type<\/em> of humanist he is. \u00a0Whatever the next adjective he appends is going to tell me a lot more about where he lives in moral conceptspace than \u2018humanist.\u2019 \u00a0After all, I place a lot of value on individual human beings and love evidence, too.<\/p>\n

I think Darren had a great insight<\/a> in one of the comment threads:<\/p>\n

I wonder if part of the problem is that the great triumph of Humanism, The Enlightenment, has been so internalized by almost everyone that Humanists no longer get credit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A lot of the things that Croft is using to define the Humanist category are intuitions and methodologies that most people (at least in the circles in which I move)\u00a0share. \u00a0Yes, there are groups who don\u2019t assent, but, to be honest, they\u2019re very hard to reach out to in debate.<\/p>\n

So, as long as Croft and I are chatting with each other, we can take it for granted that we\u2019re both\u00a0interested in rational inquiry into what is good for humans, and the\u00a0interesting<\/em> question is what answers we turn up (and what we count as rational inquiry). \u00a0So let\u2019s pin down what we mean by some of the free-variable kind of words (like \u201cgood\u201d) and\u00a0talk about where our theories and models diverge.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

*I am just mature enough to not have titled this post \u201cHumanists are particularly good finders!<\/a>\u201d but not enough to forbear from mentioning it here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Croft and Vlad Chituc have both continued to contribute to the discussion of what exactly unites humanists. \u00a0Vlad\u2019s put up a new post, and James has posted a clarifying comment that I\u2019ve quoted from below. You seem to think \u201cHumanism\u201d denotes a single, coherent moral system (particularly a metaethical system). He seems to think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":6627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,68],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-6623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atheism","category-epistemologyphilosophy","tag-atheism-is-boring"],"yoast_head":"\nStraight from the Humanist's Mouth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"James Croft and Vlad Chituc have both continued to contribute to the discussion of what exactly unites humanists. \u00a0Vlad's put up a new post, and James has\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2013\/01\/straight-from-the-humanists-mouth.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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