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Humanist
Manifesto II
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 11 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 |
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