A Thesis on Humanism

Abstract

Contrary to popular belief, humanism is not directly related to loving people. Humanism's emphasis on human dignity and freedom does not regard humanity as a biological species, but rather as a culturally built entity. Hence, for humanism, humanity is not a property of a biological kind, but a quality created by culture and education which reduce humanity to the biological aspect of human nature Humanism is the belief that reason and will are the sources of any moral, political and aesthetic knowledge and value, and they are also the only elements that are not subject to mechanical laws as they lie out of the scope of what is known as the deterministic natural functioning. One of the results of this principle is the idea that the natural is the servant of humanity. This indicates the close relationship between technique and humanism. In the universe, as depicted by mechanical physics, the problem of responsible subject has been solved by both understanding of the human in humanism and of the technique as an activity and as a form of cognition. The ideals of the 17th and 18th century enlightenment are built upon this synthesis.