It is forty years since Humanist Manifesto
I (1933) appeared. Events since then make that earlier statement seem far
too optimistic. Nazism has shown the depths of brutality of which humanity is
capable. Other totalitarian regimes have suppressed human rights without ending
poverty. Science has sometimes brought evil as well as good. Recent decades
have shown that inhuman wars can be made in the name of peace. The beginnings
of police states, even in democratic societies, widespread government
espionage, and other abuses of power by military, political, and industrial
elite's, and the continuance of unyielding racism, all present a different and
difficult social outlook. In various societies, the demands of women and
minority groups for equal rights effectively challenge our generation. As we
approach the twenty-first century, however, an affirmative and hopeful vision
is needed. Faith, commensurate with advancing knowledge, is also necessary. In
the choice between despair and hope, humanists respond in this Humanist
Manifest II with a positive declaration for times of uncertainty. As in 1933,
humanists still believe that traditional theism, especially faith in the
prayer-hearing God, assumed to love and care for persons, to hear and
understand their prayers, and to be able to do something about them, is an
unproved and outmoded faith. Salvationism, based on mere affirmation, still
appears as harmful, diverting people with false hopes of heaven hereafter.
Reasonable minds look to other means for survival. Those who sign Humanist
Manifesto II disclaim that they are setting forth a binding credo; their
individual views would be stated in widely varying ways. The statement is,
however, reaching for vision in a time that needs direction. It is social
analysis in an effort at consensus. New statements should be developed to
supersede this, but for today it is our conviction that humanism offers an
alternative that can serve present-day needs and guide humankind toward the
future.
The next century can be and should be the humanistic century.
Dramatic scientific, technological, and ever-accelerating social and political
changes crowd our awareness. We have virtually conquered the planet, explored
the moon, overcome the natural limits of travel and communication; we stand at
the dawn of a new age, ready to move farther into space and perhaps inhabit
other planets. Using technology wisely, we can control our environment, conquer
poverty, markedly reduce disease, extend our life-span, significantly modify
our behavior, alter the course of human evolution and cultural development,
unlock vast new powers, and provide humankind with unparalleled opportunity for
achieving an abundant and meaningful life. The future is, however, filled with
dangers. In learning to apply the scientific method to nature and human life,
we have opened the door to ecological damage, overpopulation, dehumanizing
institutions, totalitarian repression, and nuclear and biochemical disaster.
Faced with apocalyptic prophesies and doomsday scenarios, many flee in despair
from reason and embrace irrational cults and theologies of withdrawal and
retreat .
Traditional moral codes and newer irrational cults both
fail to meet the pressing needs of today and tomorrow. False "theologies of
hope" and messianic ideologies, substituting new dogmas for old, cannot cope
with existing world realities. They separate rather than unite peoples.
Humanity, to survive, requires bold and daring measures. We need to extend the
uses of scientific method, not renounce them, to fuse reason with compassion in
order to build constructive social and moral values. Confronted by many
possible futures, we must decide which to pursue. The ultimate goal should be
the fulfillment of the potential for growth in each human personality not for
the favored few, but for all of humankind. Only a shared world and global
measures will suffice.
A humanist outlook will tap the creativity of
each human being and provide the vision and courage for us to work together.
This outlook emphasizes the role human beings can play in their own spheres of
action. The decades ahead call for dedicated, clear-minded men and women able
to marshal the will, intelligence, and cooperative skills for shaping a
desirable future. Humanism can provide the purpose and inspiration that so many
seek; it can give personal meaning and significance to human life.
Many kinds of humanism exist in the contemporary world. The varieties and
emphases of naturalistic humanism include "scientific," "ethical,"
"democratic," religious," and "Marxist" humanism. Free thought,
atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, deism,
rationalism, ethical culture, and liberal religion all claim to be heir to the
humanist tradition. Humanism traces its roots from ancient China, classical
Greece and Rome, through the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, to the
scientific revolution of the modern world. But views that merely reject theism
are not equivalent to humanism. They lack commitment to the positive belief in
the possibilities of human progress and to the values central to it. Many
within religious groups, believing in the future of humanism, now claim
humanist credentials. Humanism is an ethical process through which we all can
move, above and beyond the divisive particulars, heroic personalities dogmatic
creeds, and ritual customs of past religions or their; mere negation. We affirm
a set of common principles that can serve as a basis for united action positive
principles relevant to the present human condition. They are a design for a
secular society on a planetary scale.
For these reasons, we submit
this new Humanist Manifesto for the future of Humankind; for us, it is a vision
of hope, a direction for satisfying survival.
First: In the best sense, religion may inspire dedication to
the highest ethical ideals. The cultivation of moral devotion and creative
imagination is an expression of genuine "spiritual" experience and aspiration.
We believe, however, that traditional dogmatic or authoritarian
religions that place revelation, God, ritual, or creed above human needs and
experience do a disservice to the human species. Any account of nature should
pass the tests of scientific evidence; in our judgment, the dogmas and myths of
traditional religions do not do so. Even at this late date in human history,
certain elementary facts based upon the critical use of scientific reason have
to be restated. We find insufficient evidence for belief in the existence of a
supernatural; it is either meaningless or irrelevant to the question of the
survival and fulfillment of the human race. As nontheists, we begin with humans
not God, nature not deity. Nature may indeed be broader and deeper than we now
know; any new discoveries, however, will but enlarge our knowledge of the
natural. Some humanists believe we should reinterpret traditional religions and
reinvest them with meanings appropriate to the current situation. Such
redefinition's, however, often perpetuate old dependencies and escapism's; they
easily become obscurantist, impeding the free use of the intellect. We need,
instead, radically new human purposes and goals. We appreciate the need to
preserve the best ethical teachings in the religious traditions of humankind,
many of which we share in common. But we reject those features of traditional
religious morality that deny humans a full appreciation of their own
potentialities and responsibilities. Traditional religions often offer solace
to humans, but, as often, they inhibit humans from helping themselves or
experiencing their full potentialities. Such institutions, creeds, and rituals
often impede the will to serve others. Too often traditional faiths encourage
dependence rather than independence, obedience rather than affirmation, fear
rather than courage. More recently they have generated concerned social action,
with many signs of relevance appearing in the wake of the "God Is Dead"
theologies. But we can discover no divine purpose or providence for the human
species. While there is much that we do not know, humans are responsible for
what we are or will become. No deity will save us; we must save ourselves.
Second: Promises of immortal salvation or fear of eternal damnation
are both illusory and harmful. They distract humans from present concerns, from
self-actualization, and from rectifying social injustices. Modern science
discredits such historic concepts as the "ghost in the machine" and the
"inseparable soul." Rather, science affirms that the human species is an
emergence from natural evolutionary forces. As far as we know, the total
personality is a function of the biological organism transacting in a social
and cultural context. There is no credible evidence that life survives the
death of the body. We continue to exist in our progeny and in the way that our
lives have influenced others in our culture. Traditional religions are surely
not the only obstacles to human progress. Other ideologies also impede human
advance. Some forms of political doctrine, for instance, function religiously,
reflecting the worst features of orthodoxy and authoritarianism, especially
when they sacrifice individuals on the altar of Utopian promises. Purely
economic and political viewpoints, whether capitalist or communist, often
function as religious and ideological dogma. Although humans undoubtedly need
economic and political goals, they also need creative values by which to live.
Third: We affirm that moral values derive their source from
human experience. Ethics is autonomous and situational, needing no theological
or ideological sanction. Ethics stems from human need and interest. To deny
this distorts the whole basis of life. Human life has meaning because we create
and develop our futures. Happiness and the creative realization of human needs
and desires, individually and in shared enjoyment, are continuous themes of
humanism. We strive for the good life, here and now. The goal is to pursue
life's enrichment despite debasing forces of vulgarization, commercialization,
bureaucratization, and dehumanization.
Fourth: Reason and
intelligence are the most effective instruments that humankind possesses. There
is no substitute: neither faith nor passion suffices in itself. The controlled
use of scientific methods, which have transformed the natural and social
sciences since the Renaissance, must be extended further in the solution of
human problems. But reason must be tempered by humility, since no group has a
monopoly of wisdom or virtue. Nor is there any guarantee that all problems can
be solved or all questions answered. Yet critical intelligence, infused by a
sense of human caring, is the best method that humanity has for resolving
problems. Reason should be balanced with compassion and empathy and the whole
person fulfilled. Thus, we are not advocating the use of scientific
intelligence independent of or in opposition to emotion, for we believe in the
cultivation of feeling and love. As science pushes back the boundary of the
known, one's sense of wonder is continually renewed, and art, poetry, and music
find their places, along with religion and ethics.
The
Individual
Fifth: The preciousness and dignity of the
individual person is a central humanist value. Individuals should be encouraged
to realize their own creative talents and desires. We reject all religious,
ideological, or moral codes that denigrate the individual, suppressing freedom,
dull intellect, dehumanize personality. We believe in maximum individual
autonomy consonant with social responsibility. Although science can account for
the causes of behavior, the possibilities of individual freedom of choice exist
in human life and should be increased.
Sixth: In the area of
sexuality, we believe that intolerant attitudes, often cultivated by orthodox
religions and puritanical cultures, unduly repress sexual conduct. The right to
birth control, abortion, and divorce should be recognized. While we do not
approve of exploitive, denigrating forms of sexual expression, neither do we
wish to prohibit, by law or social sanction, sexual behavior between consenting
adults. The many varieties of sexual exploration should not in themselves be
considered "evil." Without countenancing mindless permissiveness or unbridled
promiscuity, a civilized society should be a tolerant one. Short of harming
others or compelling them to do likewise, individuals should be permitted to
express their sexual proclivities and pursue their life-styles as they desire.
We wish to cultivate the development of a responsible attitude toward
sexuality, in which humans are not exploited as sexual objects, and in which
intimacy, sensitivity, respect, and honesty in interpersonal relations are
encouraged. Moral education for children and adults is an important way of
developing awareness and sexual maturity.
Democratic
Society
Seventh: To enhance freedom and dignity the
individual must experience a full range of civil liberties in all societies.
This includes freedom of speech and the press, political democracy, the legal
right of opposition to governmental policies, fair judicial process, religious
liberty, freedom of association, and artistic, scientific, and cultural
freedom. It also includes a recognition of an individual's right to die with
dignity, euthanasia, and the right to suicide. We oppose the increasing
invasion of privacy, by whatever means, in both totalitarian and democratic
societies. We would safeguard, extend, and implement the principles of human
freedom evolved from the Magna Carta to the Bill of Rights, the Rights of Man,
and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Eighth: We are
committed to an open and democratic society. We must extend participatory
democracy in its true sense to the economy, the school, the family, the
workplace, and voluntary associations. Decision-making must be decentralized to
include widespread involvement of people at all levels, social, political, and
economic. All persons should have a voice in developing the values and goals
that determine their lives. Institutions should be responsive to expressed
desires and needs. The conditions of work, education devotion, and play should
be humanized. Alienating forces should be modified or eradicated and
bureaucratic structures should be held to a minimum. People are more important
than decalogues, rules, proscriptions, or regulations.
Ninth:
The separation of church and state and the separation of ideology and state are
imperatives. The state should encourage maximum freedom for different moral
political, religious, and social values in society. It should not favor any
particular religious bodies through the use of public monies, nor espouse a
single ideology and function thereby as an instrument of propaganda or
oppression, particularly against dissenters.
Tenth: Humane
societies should evaluate economic systems not by rhetoric or ideology, but by
whether or not they increase economic well-being for all individuals and
groups, minimize poverty and hardship, increase the sum of human satisfaction,
and enhance the quality of life. Hence the door is open to alternative economic
systems. We need to democratize the economy and judge it by its responsiveness
to human needs, testing results in terms of the common good.
Eleventh: The principle of moral equality must be furthered through
elimination of all discrimination based upon race, religion, sex, age, or
national origin. This means equality of opportunity and recognition of talent
and merit. Individuals should be encouraged to contribute to their own
betterment. If unable, then society should provide means to satisfy their basic
economic, health, and cultural needs, including, wherever resources make
possible, a minimum guaranteed annual income. We are concerned for the welfare
of the aged, the infirm, the disadvantaged, and also for the outcasts the
mentally retarded, abandoned or abused children, the handicapped, prisoners,
and addicts for all who are neglected or ignored by society. Practicing
humanists should make it their vocation to humanize personal relations. We
believe in the right to universal education. Everyone has a right to the
cultural opportunity to fulfill his or her unique capacities and talents. The
schools should foster satisfying and productive living. They should be open at
all levels to any and all; the achievement of excellence should be encouraged.
Innovative and experimental forms of education are to be welcomed. The energy
and idealism of the young deserve to be appreciated and channeled to
constructive purposes. We deplore racial, religious, ethnic, or class
antagonisms. Although we believe in cultural diversity and encourage racial and
ethnic pride, we reject separations which promote alienation and set people and
groups against each other; we envision an integrated community where people
have a maximum opportunity for free and voluntary association. We are critical
of sexism or sexual chauvinism male or female. We believe in equal rights for
both women and men to fulfill their unique careers and potentialities as they
see fit, free of invidious discrimination.
World
Community
Twelfth: We deplore the division of humankind on
nationalistic grounds. We have reached a turning point in human history where
the best option is to transcend the limits of national sovereignty and to move
toward the building of a world community in which, all sectors of the human
family can participate. Thus we look to the development of a system of world
law and a world order based upon transnational federal government. This would
appreciate cultural pluralism and diversity. It would not exclude pride in
national origins and accomplishments nor the handling of regional problems on a
regional basis. Human progress, however, can no longer be achieved by focusing
on one section of the world, Western or Eastern, developed or underdeveloped.
For the first time in human history, no part of humankind can be isolated from
any other. Each person's future is in some way linked to all. We thus reaffirm
a commitment to the building of world community, at the same time recognizing
that this commits us to some hard choices.
Thirteenth: This
world community must renounce the resort to violence and force as a method of
solving international disputes. We believe in the peaceful adjudication of
differences by international courts and by the development of the arts of
negotiation and compromise. War is obsolete. So is the use of nuclear,
biological, and chemical weapons. It is a planetary imperative to reduce the
level of military expenditures and turn these savings to peaceful and
people-oriented uses .
Fourteenth: The world community must
engage in cooperative planning concerning the use of rapidly depleting
resources. The planet earth must be considered a single ecosystem. Ecological
damage, resource depletion, and excessive population growth must be checked by
international concord. The cultivation and conservation of nature is a moral
value; we should perceive ourselves as integral to the sources of our being in
nature. We must free our world from needless pollution and waste, responsibly
guarding and creating wealth, both natural and human. Exploitation of natural
resources, uncurbed by social conscience, must end.
Fifteenth:
The problems of economic growth and development can no longer be resolved by
one nation alone; they are worldwide in scope. It is the moral obligation of
the developed nations to provide through an international authority that
safeguards human rights massive technical, agricultural, medical, and economic
assistance, including birth control techniques, to the developing portions of
the globe. World poverty must cease. Hence extreme disproportions in wealth,
income, and economic growth should be reduced on a worldwide basis.
Sixteenth: Technology is a vital key to human progress and development.
We deplore any neo-romantic efforts to condemn indiscriminately all technology
and science or to counsel retreat from its further extension and use for the
good of humankind. We would resist any moves to censor basic scientific
research on moral, political, or social grounds. Technology must, however, be
carefully judged by the consequences of its use; harmful and destructive
changes should be avoided. We are particularly disturbed when technology and
bureaucracy control, manipulate, or modify human beings without their consent.
Technological feasibility does not imply social or cultural desirability.
Seventeenth: We must expand communication and transportation across
frontiers. Travel restrictions must cease. The world must be open to diverse
political, ideological, and moral viewpoints and evolve a worldwide system of
television and radio for information and education. We thus call for full
international cooperation in culture, science, the arts, and technology across
ideological borders. We must learn to live openly together or we shall perish
together.
Humanity as a
Whole
In closing: The world cannot wait for a reconciliation
of competing political or economic systems to solve its problems These are the
times for men and women of good will to further the building of a peaceful and
prosperous world. We urge that parochial loyalties and inflexible moral and
religious ideologies be transcended. We urge recognition of the common humanity
of all people. We further urge the use of reason and compassion to produce the
kind of world we want--a world in which peace, prosperity, freedom, and
happiness are widely shared. Let us not abandon that vision in despair or
cowardice. We are responsible for what we are or will be. Let us work together
for a humane world by means commensurate with humane ends. Destructive
ideological differences among communism, capitalism, socialism, conservatism,
liberalism, and radicalism should be overcome. Let us call for an end to terror
and hatred. We will survive and prosper only in a world of shared humane
values. We can initiate new directions for humankind; ancient rivalries can be
superseded by broad-based cooperative efforts. The commitment to tolerance,
understanding, and peaceful negotiation does not necessitate acquiescence to
the status quo nor the damming up of dynamic and revolutionary forces. The true
revolution is occurring and can continue in countless non-violent adjustments.
But this entails the willingness to step forward onto new and expanding
plateaus. At the present juncture of history, commitment to all humankind is
the highest commitment of which we are capable; it transcends the narrow
allegiances of church, state, party, class, or race in moving toward a wider
vision of human potentiality. What more daring a goal for humankind than for
each person to become, in ideal as well as practice, a citizen of a world
community. It is a classical vision; we can now give it new vitality. Humanism
thus interpreted is a moral force that has time on its side. We believe that
humankind has the potential intelligence, good will, and cooperative skill to
implement this commitment in the decades ahead.
Copyright © 1973 by the American Humanist Association
Humanist
Manifesto I
Humanist Manifesto
III
