Does Humanism Need a Revitalization? Nicole Scott Free Inquiry

In every organized movement, there comes times when changes in the landscape require a shift in direction. It’s not necessarily about a change in values or core principles but rather a rededication, a refocusing to address new challenges. Humanism is no different. In the past few decades, politics, culture, and world events have changed dramatically. As such, humanism has needed to adjust to remain vital and relevant. At various times, writers have called for a rejuvenation of the movement to meet the moment and reflect the interests of the community at large. What better place to do that than in the pages of Free Inquiry?

The first instance came in the Fall 1983 issue with an editorial by then-editor Paul Kurtz titled “The Future of Humanism.” Kurtz asked a pivotal question: “What is it that we want the humanist movement to accomplish?” After some comparative analysis, he focused on the message of humanism:

(1) it is a method of inquiry; (2) it presents a scientific world view (“cosmic humanism”); (3) it offers a set of moral values to provide meaning and direction for life; and (4) it provides a rich storehouse of artistic, poetic, and literary forms of expression.

Kurtz concluded his article with next steps regarding who should be the audience of the humanist message, how it should be delivered, and who should deliver it. Goals, he says, would lead humanism in a positive direction.

FI then dedicated the Summer 1988 issue to this topic with a symposium titled “Entering Our New World: Humanism in the 21st Century.” More than forty authors—including Mario Bunge, Levi Fragell, Roger Greeley, Ronald Lindsay, Tim Madigan, and E. O. Wilson, to name a few—touched on various topics they believed would be the most important issues facing humanists in the twenty-first century. Topics included overpopulation, violence, neurobiology, psychotherapy, the paranormal, the environment, technology, and medicine. Howard B. Radest said it best at the end of his piece: “So, a hundred years hence, a similar assignment will need to attend to the same agenda.” We must always be seeking ways to revitalize humanism.

Next, Vern Bullough opined what secular humanism should look like in the year 2000 in his editorial in the Spring 1988 FI. Through his travels around the country, Bullough identified ways in which humanism could be woven into everyday life. He concluded:

We need volunteers to serve as counselors in hospitals and other institutions, including colleges, where institutionalized chaplaincies exist; we need to establish alternatives to theistic support groups that help people through problems ranging from marriage and divorce to coping with the death of loved ones; and we need to provide moral and ethical educational opportunities for children.

Once again, Editor Paul Kurtz wrote about “The Future of Secular Humanism in America” in the August/September 2009 issue. He discussed where humanism has been but also called on humanists for the future: “We need a new agenda if we are to survive, and that is the development of a new morality as part of the emerging planetary community of humankind.”

The next year, new FI Editor Tom Flynn asked readers to finish the sentence “Secular humanism is …” with one word followed by a brief essay explaining their rationale. The editors received many submissions from FI readers and published some of them in the February/March 2011 issue. These single words included atheism, evangelistic, GE (General Electric … no, really), truth, salvation, egalitarian, defining, hope, and sensual (again, really). Many of the essays discussed what secular humanism has done, but several highlighted what it has the capacity to do.

James Dee explored what he classified as the Second Wave of humanism from the perspective of how religion helps to undermine itself. His article in the August/September 2015 issue provided numerous references to the First Wave of humanism and the New Atheists as well as his biblical interpretation for the Second Wave of humanism. His article concluded with a call to the Third Wave of humanists to disseminate what the First and Second Waves had done.

Most recently, Jamie Woodhouse stated that “Humanism Needs an Upgrade” in his article in the April/May 2019 FI. The subtitle, though, begs his question “Is Sentientism the Philosophy That Could Save the World?” Woodhouse thought so.

Much like Woodhouse, authors often come along and share where they think humanism should go and what challenges it should face next. However, no matter what direction humanism takes, it stands on its core values of church-state separation, free expression, and universal human rights.

In every organized movement, there comes times when changes in the landscape require a shift in direction. It’s not necessarily about a change in values or core principles but rather a rededication, a refocusing to address new challenges. Humanism is no different. In the past few decades, politics, culture, and world events have changed dramatically. …