Briefly, it is a way of thinking that focuses on the here and now of human life. Humanism asks and answers this question: (Q)What course of behavior is right?
(A) The one that promotes the maintenance of normal human capabilities such as thinking, feeling, physical well being.
(Q)How are people supposed to become humanists?
(A) By thinking for themselves, questioning authorit, which often has an agenda: By getting facts before forming opinions or committing to values. Humanism is an anti-authoritarian philosophy that stresses the importance of reason and the need for evidence and compassion for others when forming values.
(Q) What is a humanistic value?
(A) That life is sacred, and the purposes of life are found in meeting human needs. Humanism is the belief that people are much the same everywhere and are all entitled to justice and opportunities for fulfillment of their potential.
Humanism focuses on the ways in which all people are the same, not on the cultural, religious, social, political, tribal, ethnic differences.
The Greek Connection
From about 600 BCE Greeks were involved in founding a new way of living in the city-states they called the Polis. This new way of living together became known as The Humanities.The cultural dynamism that began in this Archaic Age reflects the Greek drive to live life to the fullest, and of their deep belief in the innate powers of each human being. Their culture, art, philosophy, all of the arts and sciences were infused with the ethics of Humanistic ideals. While Humanism was not anti-religious, it brought the focus of human life into the moment, away from ancient religious practices of worship to the many gods of Greek Mythology.
Each era has added to and reinterpreted the ideals of humanism inherited from ancient Greece.
P. 6: What's So Special About Greek Statues?