What Is It Like to Be a Humanist?
Keywords:
Enlightenment, humanism, conceptual definition, humanitas, historical humanism, modern humanism, ethics, humanityAbstract
If the notion of “humanism” is controversial, then the figure of the humanist, person working in the field of humanities, is equally controversial. It is nonetheless possible to find key concepts that join ancient and modern humanism and help understand the humanist’s role in society. They are the centrality of the human condition, the foundation of purely human values, the keeping of human inscrutability, the need to link virtues and knowledge, knowledge and life. The first part of the paper shows these key concepts in the earlier Humanism, highlighting both similarities and differences between Humanism and Enlightenment. The second part examines contemporary humanist associations. These are helpful for studying the nature of humanism and highlighting the fact that being humanist is never just an intellectual activity, an ordinary job, but a choice of life, a reflective way of using knowledge to improve oneself and human cohabitation. It is a way to learn, to teach, to show tangibly what “humanity” means.References
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