"Humanism is a Philosophy For Those In Love With Life"

I was the guest speaker at a UU group on the Treasure Coast this past weekend. My topic, as always, was Humanism. I love this group and have several long time friends that are part of it.

Definitions of Humanism

There are several definitions of Humanism and how we conceive of Humanism has changed over time. Certainly over the time I've been involved with the movement. I like many of the simple definitions. Even though they are simple, they invite discussion on exactly what is meant.

One simple definition we came up with when I was the executive director of the Humanists of Florida was - "Humanism is the applied study of what it means to be a good human being."

My practice as a Humanist is to attempt to put my "Reason and Compassion into Action."

Joyful Humanism

As part of the closing statement for the UU meeting, the host used a definition I had never heard before and it struck me as being good. So good I immediately wrote it down. She said the Humanist Society of Western New York defines Humanism as a "philosophy for those in love with life." YES!!!!!!! One of the reasons I love being a Humanist is because it encourages me to be in love with life - the good and the bad. The entire experience. As my dad used to say, living sure beats the alternative.

Here is the full definition the Western NY group has on their website. Humanism is: 

"A joyous alternative to religions that believe in a supernatural god and life in a hereafter. Humanists believe that this is the only life of which we have certain knowledge and that we owe it to ourselves and others to make it the best life possible for ourselves and all with whom we share this fragile planet. A belief that when people are free to think for themselves, using reason and knowledge as their tools, they are best able to solve this world’s problems. An appreciation of the art, literature, music and crafts that are our heritage from the past and of the creativity that, if nourished, can continuously enrich our lives. Humanism is, in sum, a philosophy of those in love with life. Humanists take responsibility for their own lives and relish the adventure of being part of new discoveries, seeking new knowledge, exploring new options. Instead of finding solace in prefabricated answers to the great questions of life, humanists enjoy the open-endedness of a quest and the freedom of discovery that this entails." - 

 The Humanist Society of Western New York

Learn More About Humanism

If you want to learn more about Humanism - I encourage you to read this - it's the 10 Humanist Commitments. I'm a big fan of them and congratulate Kristin Wintermute for facilitating it's creation.

#humanism, #ethicsmatter, #humanist, #commitment #aha #compassion #empathy #society

The 10 Humanist Commitments was created by the Center for Humanist Education (part of the American Humanist Association) - https://thehumanist.com/magazine/september-october-2019/features/living-humanist-values-the-ten-commitments 

Or Feel Free to take one of my online classes: 

https://humanistlearning.com/category/lifeskills/philosophy/

Or read one of these fine books: 

https://humanistlearning.com/category/shop/humanism101/

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Learning about Humanism

 Question: 

I grew up in a family that stopped going to church when my grandparents were young. My mom must have felt a little guilty and sent my brother and I to Sunday school a couple times but I was just born one of those people who were not buying any of it.  I had a conversation with a university prof (baptist) recently who referred to being an atheist as my religion.  I told him I've always considered atheism to be a lack of religion not a type. I have yet to really formulate a philosophy in life despite being 45 years old already so I'm exploring Humanism. Can anyone recommend any good books on the subject?

Answer: 

Several. First - some free resources - Video: What does it mean to be a Humanist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shv7htovpbQ

 - video: Applied Humanism - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vzWL2k-ez0

 - Video series: An Introduction to Humanism https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL926B6F22CBF88997

 Humanist Manfesto 1: https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto1/

 2: https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto2/

 and 3: https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto3/

 The 10 Humanist Commitments - https://americanhumanistcenterforeducation.org/living-humanist-values-the-ten-commitments/

 And finally - the books I recommend on Humanism (the first section are my books - but further down the list are the classic works - specifically the one by Corliss Lamont. I also think Ramendra Nath is one of the finest Humanist thinkers alive today. Just my opinion of course. Let me know if you are looking for anything else.

What is the point of being a Humanist?

I found a new writer I like/love. Their name is ML Clark and they are in Columbia right now.   They wrote an excellent essay - what is the point of being a Humanist in a mucked up world.

In their essay they say - #Humanism "recognizing when you are tired, and fed up, and cynical, and hurt, and wounded, and angry–all conditions in which it seems reasonable just to stop bothering–and then to make a concerted effort to keep bothering anyway.” 

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anotherwhiteatheistincolombia/2020/02/humanist-mucked-up-world/

I like this approach to Humanism. It is realistic. It acknowledges that life is hard. And that being good - might not yield good results.  And yes - the point of Humanism is to make an effort to be good anyway.  This is something you do for you.

A while back, I posted an article about the 10 Humanist Commitments from the American Humanist Association.  These are commitments we make to ourselves in our attempt to be better people. This is about personal responsibility. What we can do to make our lives and the lives of the people we come in contact with - just a little bit better. https://humanisthappiness.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-10-commitments-of-humanism.html

As I read MLClark's essay - I was reminded of what my grandmother told me when I was little. She said I was put on this earth to love people. And that's what I've been doing ever since.  Every day - I try to love myself. Love my family. Love others. That's what my business is about too. Teaching people how to deal with difficult situations with love in their heart.  To me - this is what Humanism is about and it is what drives my approach. LOVE!

If you want to learn more - or - take a course on how to do this yourself visit my website at: https://humanistlearning.com/

The particular course I recommend is Living Made Simpler - https://humanistlearning.com/livingmadesimpler1/

The 10 Commitments of Humanism

The American Humanist Association - Center for Learning - published the 10 Humanist Commitments.  They are worth reading.

The article about what all these commitments mean is here: https://americanhumanistcenterforeducation.org/?page_id=14747  And .. there is a simplified kids version: https://americanhumanistcenterforeducation.org/?page_id=17997


What I like about these commitments and principles is that because they are Humanist - they are without any specific religious creed. This allows them to be used by anyone to 'form a strong basis on which character development can be delivered."

The idea behind this was to provide students with a positive basis for moral development.

I also like it because - they are not commandments - which are externally imposed, but rather commitments we make to ourselves and to each other to be better people. And I do think people who are internally motivated to be ethical - do a better job at being good than people who are only being good to avoid punishment.

Finally - for me - it was timely because I am involved in the International Humanistic Management Association and we are currently onboarding our first cohort of fellows and one of the things they want and need to be good advocates for humanistic management - is a clear statement of what it means to be a Humanist.  These 10 commitments - are exactly what they wanted and need to help promote humanistic cultural change within organizations.

How do you plan to use the commitments?

Species-ism vs Humanism

I am a Humanist, but that does not mean I'm species-ist.

I am a Human. I have made a choice to be the best most ethical human I can be.  That, to me, is what it means to be a humanist.

It does not mean that I don't like other species. Or that I think humans are superior to other species. That concept of species superiority tends to be a religious concept, not a humanistic one.

It just means, given that I was born human and have certain faculties, I should probably put them to good use. And I spend time, thinking about what that means and thinking about how best to manifest whatever I think it means in my daily life.

To me, Humanism is a practice. The practice of trying to be a good person.  It is a commitment to myself - to be a good person.  It's something I do for me.

The fact that being nice helps me slide through life easier - is bonus.

For those of you who consider yourself to be humanists, what does being a humanist mean to you? 

Why I am a Humanist

Because I feel that of all my options - as a world view - Humanism is the best.

I walk around all day - liking everyone I meet, because I recognize our common humanity.

I am not afraid of people - because - there are no scary “others.” Just members of my tribe.

I never have that feeling of “aloneness” because I know because of science that I am biologically related to all life on earth and chemically related to everything in the universe. In fact - I am born of star stuff.

Grief is easier. My worldview is not thrown upside down when I experience a death. Death - just - happens. It’s sad. I cry. But that’s ok. It’s part of life. Just something we all have to experience at some point. It’s not pleasant, but it’s not life threatening either even though it sometimes feels like it is.

I’m less wrong than most people because I don’t have a problem accepting new information that contradicts my old way of thinking - because - my focus is on being less wrong, not on being right.

I problem solve really well because I use reality based decision making and problem solving processes. The result is - less stress - more success.

I like being around other Humanists. I find them interesting and intellectually stimulating. So being part of a Humanist community suits me quite well.

I love our approach to moral reasoning - which is both reality based and compassion based and I feel pretty good about the difficult decisions I am sometimes called on to make.

Most of the time I walk around in a pretty happy state because - I am at peace with who I am and what I am trying to accomplish in life.

I feel like - I do life pretty well - most of the time. And I do strive to improve. So - as a lived world view - I feel like it is both practical and motivational and - basically - everything I want and need out of a world view.

That is why I am a Humanist.

Leo Igwe - On Humanism

Video of Leo Igwe - on Humanism - really powerful discussion on why we need to be courageous and willing to take responsibility for our own lives.

Leo Igwe works to end a variety of human rights violations that are rooted in superstition, including witchcraft accusations, anti-gay hate, caste discrimination and ritual killing in Africa. I have corresponded with him for years - this talk - is wonderful. He talks about why Humanism is important for human progress.

If you want to learn more about Humanism as a philosophy:

• Get my Book:  The Handy Humanism Handbook - free with sign up: http://www.jen-hancock.com/handyhumanism/
• Watch my Introduction to Humanism Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96K7v1f9EJk&list=PL926B6F22CBF88997
• Also available on DVD: https://amzn.to/2pY1nmL
• And if you want to learn more about how to live life more simply by applying Humanism to your daily life- get my book: The Humanist Approach to Happiness: https://humanistlearning.com/the-humanist-approach-to-happiness-book/

To learn more about how you can help promote Humanism worldwide - visit: http://iheu.org/

The Simple Truth is – Humanism Matters

There continues to be a lot of discussion about Humanistic Business and leadership. The reason why? Because Humanism matters.

We live in a diverse global society. The biggest businesses are global, our commerce is global, thanks to the internet, our friendsships are increasing global. And our food, thankfully, is global as well (I’m a big fan of Peruvian, Indian and Columbian food for instance).

All this global diversity has benefits, but like all good things, has a downside as well. How we chose to manage the benefits vs. the drawbacks will dictate our success going into the future.

People who are afraid of all this globalization rightly see the downside and it scares them. People who are for globalization are looking at the upside and think it outweighs the downside. Blind fear doesn't lead to good decisions, but neither does blind optimism.

What would be incredibly helpful is a honest discussion of the pros and cons so that we maximize the good and minimize the harm.  That isn’t going to happen in the media or through our politicians.  But we as individuals can and must discuss this and this is why Humanism matters.

Humanism, because it’s focused on our common human morality, can help us cut across religious and cultural differences to find a common moral language and framework. It encourages us to recognize the humanity of those who are different from us so we can recognize and explore their moral reasoning to find areas of common ground.

Humanism is also reality based. We don’t like to make decisions based on assumptions, we want good science based information. Without that we are adrift.

Finally, a humanistic mindset helps us recognize that we are all dependent on the society in which we live. Our businesses rely on customers and those customers live somewhere and need food, water, shelter, health care and a sense of community. Everywhere in the world this is true.

Humanism in business matters because businesses and working and commerce defines how we interact with each other. We can either use our businesses to help humanity as a whole progress to peace and community, or we can allow our societies to be consumed with greed. We can balance profit and benefit to society. And we must. And this is why Humanism matters.

To learn more – take the free online course – Why Humanistic Management offered by the Humanistic Management Network through my company – Humanist Learning Systems - http://humanistlearning.info/why-humanistic-management/

Consider Humanism

I was asked recently about labels.  The person, a woman, considers herself to be a feminist. But, she also was dealing with the reality that some people view feminism as being somehow misandrist, meaning, anti-male.

Obviously, being pro-equality for women is not the same as being anti-male but that doesn’t stop the comparison from being made. She was wondering if it might be better to label herself as an egalitarian or a Humanist.

Feminism as activism can express itself in many ways - but at it’s core is the idea that women should have equal rights. Now, there are some women who use the word feminism to describe female superiority - which is not what I consider feminism to be. To me that is misandry not feminism.

Humanists are feminists and if they aren’t, then they aren’t doing a very good job at being humanists.

So what is Humanism? Humanism is the applied study of what it means to be a good human being without supernatural guidance. In other words, it’s a-religious, or without religion or ghosts or anything.

Egalitarians are also feminists and if they aren’t, they aren’t very egalitarians. What egalitarianism provides as a term that feminism doesn’t is feminism focuses specifically on gender equality where egalitarians are concerned about all people. Which sounds nice, and it is. But the reason we still need feminism is the same as the reason why we need the black lives matter movement. There are some forms of oppression that uniquely effect women. And there are some forms of oppression that uniquely effect people of color. Or nationalities, or sexual expression or whatever.

If you are currently considering how to label yourself, please don’t spend a lot of time debating these things. Most people are multiple things and use multiple labels to define themselves. We aren’t just one thing. For me, my humanism (philosophy) leads me to be an egalitarian and a feminist and an activist, etc. Which is a way to say - one label will never be sufficient to define your views. When confronting oppression of women, I am a feminist. When discussing my philosophy, I am a Humanist.

But seriously – if you are concerned about equality – consider learning more about Humanism – because – it may be the philosophy driving your concerns and understanding humanism better will help you articulate your beliefs to others regardless of the labels you choose.

To learn more get my book: Jen Hancock’s Handy Humanism Handbook – or check out my online course about living fully as a Humanist – Living Made Simpler – which is a 6 hour exploration of philosophy, critical thinking, compassion, activism and coping.

My son: On Humanism

I like to think my son is brilliant.  Here is a statement of philosophy he came up with the other day.

“There is no god – only the good inside of us.
There is no devil – only the bad inside of us.
There is no war – only really big arguments.
There is no evil – just misled people.”

To say I’m proud is an understatement.   But it’s not just my kid who has been thinking deep thoughts. And it’s not just Humanists who think deep thoughts. My friend sent me a statement his daughter made. They are Christians, but clearly share a humanistic mindset. She says.

“There is no justice in the laws of nature … no term for fairness in the equations of motion.
The universe is neither good nor evil, it simply cannot care.
The stars don’t care. Or the sun. or the sky.
But they don’t have to. We care.
There IS LIGHT in the world and it is US!
That is the beauty of sentient thought.”

I couldn’t agree more.

How many Humanists are there?

Question:

Is it proper that humanist organizations count (more or less) all non-religious people as humanists?

My answer: 

I don’t think it’s proper. We should be counting those who share our philosophy, not just people who are irreligious.  The British Humanist Association commissioned a study once and found that something like 36% of British people shared the majority of the Humanist philosophy for instance. https://humanism.org.uk/humanism/the-humanist-tradition/20th-century-humanism/  I suspect this number is probably pretty consistent regardless of what country you go to as humanist values are very common. In fact, global studies of ethics back that up. The only really contentious part of the philosophy is the rejection of supernaturalism as a problem solving technique.

Now – just because I don’t think we should label people as Humanist just because they are irreligious doesn’t mean I don’t think that Humanist groups don’t have a good reason to count the non-religious. In many societies being non-religious means being a 2nd class citizen. So there are human rights concerns for the entire non-religious population that need to be addressed.

The other reason to talk about the number of irreligious is because we do reject supernaturalism and theological beliefs as a way to solve problems. Meaning, we think the best sort of problem solving is secular or reality based problem solving. To convince people it’s OK to approach problem solving this way it does help to provide social validation that this is a common way to problem solve. We aren’t just saying this works – look at all the other people who reject supernaturalism too!  We do this to normalize and create acceptance for non-belief. This accomplishes a triple goal – reduce the stigma against non-belief so we personally can openly be non-religious, reduce the level of violence directed at the non-religious, and encourage people and society to use critical thinking when problem solving.

What are the key virtues of Humanism

What are the key human virtues that humanism encourages or stands for?

Here is my quick list:

• Reason - reality based decision making, and critical thinking to solve problems more effectively. .

• Compassion - ethical basis for our morality.

• Action- we have the ability and responsibility to make the world a better place for ourselves and others.

Pretty simple really. If you want to learn more, consider getting my Handy Humanism Handbook

Applied Humanism - in Business

What's Humanistic about Humanistic Management? Clause Dierksmeier has an excellent article in the Humanistic Management Journal that I think is worth reading. It's a LONG article, but worth the time and effort to read.

It is wonky - but the final section is about practical application for this philosophy with the emphasis on understanding the role ethics plays in how business decisions are made.

Here is a link: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41463-016-0002-6 

Even if you aren't interesting in business, economics impacts you. The philosophies and ideas of economists impact our politics. Understanding what underlies those philosophies - in many cases - different opinions about what freedom means - will help you make sense of the arguments being made in the political sphere and that are driving business decisions.

This article is fascinating because, while it is rather wonky, the discussion about the difference between quantitative freedom and qualitative freedom is fascinating and underpins debates between libertarian, liberal and conservative politics. This article really does a good job of breaking down these arguments to their core basis and clarifies what is being debated and why.

From a Humanist perspective I found the section on using the unconditional dignity of humans as the foundation upon which the philosophy is built - to be spot on. Clause covers the history of the concept of human dignity. Humanists, of course, based on the concept of human dignity on autonomy of freedom. And again, the discussion of this is fascinating.

In the section on deep ecology - he coins a term I now love. One of the complaints about Humanism has always been that it seems anthropocentric. While any Humanist will tell you isn't true, it is something we have to repeatedly explain. Clause makes the case that Humanism is anthroporelational not anthropocentric and I really like that concept.

Finally, he addresses the globalist nature of the humanist project, discussing research on the global nature of ethics and talking about the benefits of cosmopolitanism.

This is a seriously meaty essay and well worth reading.

Enjoy.

A Humanist Revolution

What are the origins of Humanism? Is Humanism a response to religion? A response to naturalism? An outgrowth of ethical reasoning? The answer is yes. And no. To all of them.

Ryan Bell wrote an article critiquing an article that claims secular Humanism grew out of Christianity.  See: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/yearwithoutgod/2015/12/30/a-humanist-revolution/ Ryan is correct to rebut this claim.

Humanism predates Christianity and while western Humanism may have grown out of or been influenced by Christianity, other forms of Humanism can also claim to have grown out of the respective dominant religious traditions present in the culture at the time the Humanist tradition emerged in that culture.

What is Humanism?

All paths lead to Humanism. Well, most of them anyway.

Humanism is a very organic philosophy. What I mean by this is that people figure it out on their own. They don’t need to be explicitly taught this way of being. All it takes is a little rational thought and a desire to be good and to do good in the world in the absence of religion and most people will come up with a philosophy of their own very similar to what we now call Humanism.

When I was growing up, we didn’t have a word for it. We just called it being a good person. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized what my parents had taught me had a name.  My experience isn’t entirely unique. More and more kids are being raised without religion.

A Child’s View of Humanism and Humanity

I know every parent is amazed by their children, but mine blew me away the other day.

 My son spends a lot of time thinking. He’s gifted so this isn’t surprising. My impression of him is that he spends a lot of time thinking about architecture and how to build things. He’s 10 and into Minecraft and Legos and his major form of self entertainment is and continues to be building things out of blocks, and Legos and looking at blue prints for how things are built.

The other day, he came home from school and said he had been doing some thinking on the bus.  He said he had come up with 4 principles about life and humanity. Here they are:

Why do Humanists encourage self-education?

Humanists are dedicated to self-education because we understand that education is the key to Auto-Liberation.

The Atlantic had a brilliant essay recently by Ta-Nehisi Coates called Being French.  The subtitle of the essay is: It’s hard to learn a new language. But it’s way harder to learn a new culture. (See: http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/08/acting-french/375743/)

This brilliant essay is about the role education plays in both subjugation and liberation.  Subjugation results from the restriction of learning. The problem is that we can do this to ourselves when we restrict our own learning. Maybe we don’t want to learn.  The problem is that when we refuse to learn, we limit ourselves.

Liberation is not something that is given to us. It is something we have to learn and earn for ourselves.  This is why self-education is the key to auto-liberation.

Ta-Nehisi talks about his own journey to cosmopolitanism, which is an attitude of openness to other cultures.  Cosmopolitanism is important because it opens us up to learning.

Ta-Nehisi provides an ample example of this when he talks about the self-education of the Cherokee.  Settlers hope that by educating the Cherokee – they could control them. The opposite happened.  The Cherokee didn’t restrict their learning to what was provided for them. They took to self-education and the liberation that comes with it as if their lives depended on it – because it did.

To quote Ta-Nehsis “Openness to education did not make the Cherokee pliant to American power; it gave them tools to resist that power. Realizing this, the United States dropped the veneer of “culture” and “civilization” and resorted to “Indian Removal,” or The Trail of Tears.”

Restriction of learning is a tool of suppression. Control of education is power. If you want to have power and autonomy, you have to control your own learning. You have to make learning a priority for yourself and to actively seek out opportunities to learn.  This is why Humanists consider education so important.

Ta-Nehisi continues, “In our time, it is common to urge young black children toward education so that they may be respectable or impress the “right people.” But the “right people” remain unimpressed, and the credentials of black people, in a country rooted in white supremacy, must necessarily be less. That great powers are in the business of using "respectability" and "education" to ignore these discomfiting facts does not close the book. You can never fully know. But you can walk in the right direction.”

That right direction? Self-education and auto-liberation.

A Guide to Happiness

The search for happiness is a lot like the search for the Holy Grail. We don’t even know what exactly it is we are looking for.

I realize I’m probably the last person to lecture on why seeking happiness is a silly idea. After all, I wrote a book called, The Humanist Approach to Happiness.  Check it out – it’s a good book and your purchase of it will make me, very happy.

Anyway, it seems to me that a big part of the reason people struggle with being happy is because they don’t recognize it when they experience it.  Is happiness the state of being happy?  Is it a state of contented bliss? Can you be happy even when you are sad?  Is it a feeling of pleasure? Or something different?

Because we don’t really know exactly what happiness is, our search for it is elusive.  And this search prevents us from being happy and experiencing bliss.

I think my son has it right. Today he told me. Life is pretty good.  I said, I agreed because it sure beats the alternative. And that is how you find happiness.

Don’t look for it. Appreciate the fact you are alive, despite the odds, despite the problems, you are alive and that sure beats the alternative.  What more exactly were you hoping for?  Life is filled with pleasure and pain. Sadness and joy.

To me, happiness isn’t a feeling, it’s an experience of contentedness and to experience that requires a little bit of reflection, that despite it all, life is pretty good. I don’t need to experience utmost bliss all the time to be happy. I just have to be alive so I can experience bliss when I am lucky enough to experience it.

How do you define happiness?

Applied Humanism

After you decide what you believe about life the universe and everything, you now have to figure out how best to live your life given what you believe. That’s where Humanism comes in.

It turns out that deciding whether you believe in a god, gods or no gods or some amorphous deity or, that you just refuse to even think about it and make a decision on what you think (the apathetic agnostic option), is the easy part.

Once you know what you believe, you now have to get on with the business of living life, hopefully, in accordance with your beliefs, or in my case, lack of belief.  How do we make decisions?  How do we live life fully? Heck, what do we mean by living life fully?

These are the hard existential questions that aren’t actually answered when you decide how you feel about the god/not god question. Which is why Humanism is so important. Because Humanism helps us to not only find answers to these questions, but the answers are REALLY satisfying and very practical on a day to day basis.

Yeah – it’s not as sexy as a good old god off – but that’s ok.  Because learning how to life your life in a way you can feel good about and that can do good for others, is a lifelong task.  We never stop learning.

So, how can Humanism help you?  Well, you can decide to be a good person. Just because.  You can decide to try and make your impact on others as positive as possible. Again, just because.  To have a positive impact requires you to make good decisions and that requires you to learn how to think well so that you can make good decisions.

Having trouble with interpersonal issues, Humanism can help you there too.  The other person is human, just like you are and they can’t read minds.  This means, you should be compassionate with them and stop assuming that just because they weren’t acting in a way you think is perfect doesn’t mean that they are a horrible person incapable of compassion.

Struggling with fears of death?  Yup, Humanism can help with that too.  You are going to die. Stop wasting what little time you have alive worrying about the inevitable and get on with living life to the fullest while you still can. And if you still can’t stop worrying, go seek professional help!  There is a reason why early Humanists were active in psychology.  We realize that living isn’t easy and almost everyone needs help to maximize their potential and to be reasonably happy and satisfied in life. So don’t be afraid to seek out help when you need it. It’s the Humanist way.

Humanism and Pragmatism

Pragmatism informs Humanism. It is the foundation on which our morals rest.

There is a great article in the Humanist Magazine – which if you don’t subscribe to it, you should. The editor Jennifer Bardi does an excellent job of curating each issue. Anyway – in Humanism 101 Michael Werner, the author, discusses Humanism and pragmatism. In it he says, “The pragmatist offers a staircase toward the light, asking what works toward human and global welfare. Pragmatism offers knowledge that is always provisional, fallible, and probabilistic, but that works.”

Link to the article here: http://thehumanist.com/magazine/july-august-2014/commentary/humanism-101-our-pragmatist-tradition

I am asked all the time, if you don’t believe in god, how can you have a foundation for ethics. Doesn’t the lack of god imply moral relativism? The answer is no. Not for a Humanist. We still have a moral conscious because we choose to have one.  Our moral compass does not rest on science or on culture exclusively. It has no absolute basis. It is born of our social experience and tested by our experiences and the experiences of others.

The more we learn about others and their experiences, the more we can refine our moral code of what is good and what isn’t. To quote Werner, ”the interplay of science and culture points us toward the best ideals,”  

We have morals because we chose to have morals. Because having a morality is pragmatic and helps us live our lives more effectively. This may not be an entirely rational thing to do. But it is an imminently pragmatic thing to do.