humanism /'hju:meniz(e)m/ n. an outlook or system of thought concerned with human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Albert Einstein, Isaac Asimov, E.M. Forster, Bertrand Russell, and Gloria Steinem all declared themselves humanists. What is humanism and why does it matter? If it rejects religion, what does it offer in its place? Have the twentieth century's crimes against humanity spelled the end for humanism? Drawing on a range of examples from Aristotle to Primo Levi and the novels of Virginia Woolf, On Humanism is a powerfully argued philosophical defence of humanism. It is also an impassioned plea that we turn to ourselves, not religion, if we want to answer Socrates' age-old question: what is the best kind of life to lead? Although humanism has much in common with science, Richard Norman shows that it is far from a denial of the more mysterious, fragile side of being human, dealing with big questions such as the environment, Darwinism and 'creation science', euthanasia and abortion.
This revised second edition includes a new chapter on the debates between "the New Atheists" such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens and their religious critics, asking why the two sides in the debate so often seem to be talking past one another, and suggesting how the conversation could be made more fruitful. Also featuring an expanded discussion of immortality and Christian claims about the Resurrection, On Humanism is a lucid and timely reflection on this much talked about but little understood phenomenon.
