We are creating the world's most trusted encyclopedia and knowledge base. Once you join us and log in, you'll be able to edit this page instantly!

From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

Humanism is a group of ethical theories that place the human being at the center of our moral concern. It also refers to a literary and scholarly movement during the Renaissance led by scholars like Erasmus.

Humanists tend to believe that human beings can make progress through the application of human intellect without the need for religious authority, and many also believe that "man is the measure of all things"^[1], although some people like the ethicist Peter Singer have questioned humanist attitudes to animals. Humanism is derived from both Unitarian Universalism and from the philosophies of the Enlightenment.

References

1. ↑ Man is the measure of all things. Proverbs. The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs from Answers.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.