Humanism

 Just posted a little goodreads review of Sarah Bakewell's Humanly Possible...

Terrific survey of secular spirituality and naturalistic thought. This life is indeed "the place to be happy," as humanists have always affirmed. I especially like Bakewell's discussion of the darwinian/evolutionary connection, so important and so widely misunderstood by anti-humanists. If the humanist tent is to grow in America, that misunderstanding is going to have to be corrected.

To that end, may I recommend an old hidden gem by one of the expert witnesses called to testify in the notorious Scopes "Monkey Trial" (Dayton TN, 1925):

"The humanistic philosophy of life, which flowered in Greece and which has blossomed again, is not the crude materialistic desire to eat, drink, and be merry. It is a spiritual joy in living and a confidence in the future, which makes this life a thing worthwhile. The otherworldliness of the Middle Ages does not satisfy the spiritual demands of modern times." –Winterton C. Curtis (1875-1965), Science and Human Affairs From the Viewpoint of Biology (1922)

Curtis, by the way, was my first landlord: when my father was a veterinary student at the University of Missouri in the late '50s he, my mother, and I rented rooms in Dr. Curtis's home. I remember him fondly as the old man who retrieved dollar bills from my ear. I've read this book and other things by him, including an account of his time in Dayton. He was deeply imbued with the humanist spirit. He would have loved Sarah Bakewell's book.

 

  

What is humanism? (Humanists Intl)