Secular Humanism
“Who are the secular humanists? Perhaps everyone who believes in the principles of free inquiry, ethics based upon reason, and a commitment to science, democracy, and freedom. ”
— Paul Kurtz
Secular humanism is the understanding that one can have morality, values, and fulfillment without a belief in God.
It is non-religious.
It can be classified as a philosophy, dogma, or life stance.
Secular humanism is a comprehensive, non-religious lifestance incorporating:
A naturalistic philosophy
Secular humanism is philosophically naturalistic. It holds that nature is all there is, and that reliable knowledge is best obtained when we query nature using the scientific method.
A cosmic outlook rooted in science
Grounding our lives in the context of our universe and relying on methods demonstrated by science. Secular humanists see themselves as undesigned, unintended beings who arose through evolution, possessing unique attributes of self-awareness and moral agency.
A consequentialist ethical system
Secular humanists hold that ethics are consequential, to be judged by results. This is in contrast to so-called command ethics, in which right and wrong are defined in advance and attributed to divine authority. “No god will save us,” declared Humanist Manifesto II (1973), “we must save ourselves.” Secular humanists seek to develop and improve their ethical principles by examining the results they yield in the lives of real people.
Instead of relying on faith, doctrine, or mysticism, secular humanists use compassion, critical thinking, and human experience to find solutions to human problems.
Humanism reaches beyond the idea of existing or not existing and consists of values and ethics. It also incorporates individualism and a naturalistic philosophy.
Secular Humanism begins with denial or doubt concerning the existence of anything supernatural but then goes well beyond that secular stance by positively affirming and valuing the potential of human beings to be kind, enact justice, solve problems, and make the world a better, safer, greener, and more humane place.
Secular humanism begins with atheism (absence of belief in a deity) and agnosticism or skepticism (epistemological caution that rejects the transcendent as such due to a lack of evidence). Because no transcendent power will save us, secular humanists maintain that humans must take responsibility for themselves.
While atheism is a necessary condition for secular humanism, it is not a sufficient one. Secular humanists “wish to encourage wherever possible the growth of moral awareness and the capacity for free choice and an understanding of the consequences thereof.”
Let’s look at the numbers…
While previous generations were also more likely to be religiously unaffiliated in their twenties, young adults today are nearly four times as likely as young adults a generation ago to identify as religiously unaffiliated.
In 1986, for example, only 10% of young adults claimed no religious affiliation.
Nearly one in five (19%) Americans switched from their childhood religious identity to become unaffiliated as adults, and relatively few (3%) Americans who were raised unaffiliated are joining a religious tradition.
More than six in ten (62%) religiously unaffiliated Americans who were raised in a religion say they abandoned their childhood religion before they turned 18.
Among the reasons Americans identified as important motivations in leaving their childhood religion are:
they stopped believing in the religion’s teachings (60%)
their family was never that religious when they were growing up (32%)
their experience of negative religious teachings about or treatment of LGBTQIA+ people (29%)
Literary Resources
Kitcher, Philip, 2014, Life after Faith: The Case for Secular Humanism, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
