When Humanists Know Nothing of Humanism Contrast to the Comprehensive History (original) (raw)
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Adventures in the Anti humanist Dialectic Towards the Re Appropriation of Humanism REVISED DRAFT
European Journal of Social Theory, 2021
The hegemonic discourse on humanism in the contemporary academya critical discourse in the form of a theoretical anti-humanismis marked by a certain degree of impoverishment. This impoverishment is the result of many contextual factors, including the ideological purposes to which the discourse has been put, but also the effects of internal workings of the paradigm associated with anti-humanism itself. In this article, I trace the development of this discourse in its foundational early-and mid-twentieth century manifestations, outlining its central characteristics as well as its tensions and aporias, both theoretical and political. I argue that the critical discourse (which has informed our contemporary understanding of humanism) needs to be meaningfully sublated, and that a new discourseone that has reflected deeply upon the anti-humanist discourse: its strengths and its weaknessesshould take its place.
A defining term for the Renaissance, " the human " is today a perilous term. But is it still a useful one—or is its intellectual history in early modernity too fraught, too deeply implicated in critiques of anthropocentrism? This essay argues for a reap-praisal of " humanism " as a philosophical tradition and suggests how the history of " the human " in the early modern period already contains its postmodern and posthumanist unraveling. As a humanist's humanist, Spenser plays a key, emblematic role in this history as his careful and sparing use of the term " human " in its various forms points to the idea of humanity as a boundary condition, a description of a limit. The essay concludes with a reflection on the continued importance of humanist modes of reading through an understanding of the text's own agency.
Humanism is a broad system of values, a program of learning, and a historical development that does not belong to a particular period, people, or place. It cannot be confined within the European context, in particular the Renaissance period, as Lauro Martines does by describing humanism as “a program for the ruling classes”. Martines’ class analysis does well in capturing the class dimension of the Renaissance, the misuse of humanism as a political tool by the elites. However, his analysis is only applicable to a certain place which is Europe, and at a particular time, the fifteenth century. Hence, to describe humanism as merely an elite propaganda is only to recognize a characteristic of the Quattrocento humanism than humanism more broadly. To get a better conceptualization of humanism, this essay aims to take humanism outside its later stages of development in Europe and into the Islamic world wherein earlier stages of development had taken place. Therefore, a great emphasis is given to Islamic humanism.
Humanism: A New View on an Eternal Problem
2013
The article reveals that the main socio-philosophical doctrines: 1) approach social development mainly in an abstract way, regardless of human nature; 2) do not take into consideration the factors of vagueness and self-organization which are an integral part of human being’s vital activity; 3) do not adequately inquire into the role of cultural facts in a historical perspective. Cataclysms in the modern world, socio-economic, ecologic and other crises appear in a different light if considered in the context of conceptions about human nature. A move of society towards genuine humanistic existence depends, to a great extent, on the prospects of all round development of a human being, his/her personal moral qualities. It is highlighted that the inability to reasonably manage social processes, which are determined by the archaic human nature, causes danger to humankind. The human mind has its own history and many traces of the previous stages of development are imprinted into the psyche...
Humanism has a long and sophisticated history. Secular humanism encourages us to believe that humanism was born and faded in ancient Greece, then reborn in the renaissance as part of the narrative that includes the enlightenment and the modern era. This is only true if we take a very limited view of humanism. In fact, humanist philosophies that deny the supernatural and emphasise the human have been a central part of the development of civilisation over the last two thousand years. This paper unpacks an alternate, more historically accurate and inclusive history of humanism. In this history, humanism begins in ancient Asia and transmits to Europe, China, the Middle East, and back to Europe. In each case, there is a clear point of cultural and conceptual contact, as well as a significant development in the overall philosophy of humanism. NOTE: this paper is the first in a series tracing the development of humanist thought across Eurasia. Subsequent papers detail the development of humanist spiritual, ethical, legal and professional systems through Buddhist & Taoist Indo- China, Han China, Medieval Islam, and modern medical practice respectively.
HUMANISM. Reflections on an Eponymous Idea. «Munera», Quaderno 2019
«MUNERA», Quaderno 2019, pp. 73-96, 2019
1. Humanism: the byname of European civilization 2. Jurisdictional function of humanism 3. The dignity of man and the superiority of judgement over force 4. The experiential nature of humanism and the relationship between rhetoric and speculation 5. A distinction: humanism and humanistic 6. Contemporary prejudices about humanism: subjectivism and anti-scientificity 7. The principal cultural dimensions of the problem: religion and utopia 8. Conclusion: a method for research.
European Humanism and Its Challenges
Primerjalna književnost, 2018
The question of a human person, which is the starting point of every humanism, is the initial, fundamental, almost inevitable question of every culture. On the other hand, it is highly complex and practically impossible to delimit. If one sees humanistic thought as philosophical anthropology, its character is understandably transcultural, one that can appear anywhere in history, and is always radical: it reaches the very foundations of culture and civilization. In this sense, it can be seen as a universal human phenomenon. In its narrower sense, the origins of humanism are marked by the return of Western Europe to the forgotten sources of its cultural identity, hidden in classical antiquity. Moreover, its peak, the Renaissance, is defined by its artistic achievements, which are nevertheless founded in the sphere of intellect and in its new understanding of being human. In this perspective, humanism is one of the most significant and complex phenomena in European cultural history. It is difficult to imagine any research project ignoring its variety. This is the topic to which this particular volume is primarily dedicated. Both established as well as younger European scholars explore different literary, philosophical, ethical, aesthetic, religious, cultural, and social aspects of humanism. Most of the studies highlight its historical dimension: humanism was grounded in ancient literature and thought, and has shaped the conceptual framework of reception and interpretation of antiquity for centuries (Weiss, Kersten, Movrin, and Senegačnik). At the same time, its cognitive and ethical dynamics developed and upgraded its traditions, and thus directed the flow of European culture and, in some respects, even transformed the foundations of its civilization. However, humanism was not shaped exclusively by its relation to antiquity: a valuable source, as well as contrast to its anthropology, was medieval Christian anthropology, mainly as reflected in its supreme expression, Dante’s poetry (Širca). In the following chapters, history is analyzed from several perspectives: on the one hand, there are investigations of conceptual movements in the understanding of the world, time and human being, which have expanded the general, “global” horizon of humanistic thinkers (Szönyi, Molnár, Łukaszyk). On the other hand, there is research exploring national and regional luminaries (Marinčič on the influence of P. P. Vergerius on P. Trubar, Pobežin on P. P. Vergerius, and Hriberšek on Ž. Herberstein) and literary phenomena. These studies frequently redefine the established literary and historical image of the humanist period. The second thematic area of this volume is devoted to the challenges of humanism. To the influence of its central ideas on contemporary culture, particularly on literature (Kuret); to cognitive, ethical, and social dilemmas arising from the conflict of humanistic anthropology and the new patterns in understanding the human condition; and finally to the possibilities opened up by the fresh readings of the humanist tradition. The studies of this volume offer several original insights and new perspectives on the cultural issues of the present time, with contributions that analyze the fundamental experience of humanity in the horizon of humanistic self-understanding (Russo). With globalization as well as with the revolution in media and communication, humanistic culture faces radical changes, which require new reflections regarding the concept of individual disciplines (Zabel).
2011
The choice of the word "reconstructing" for the title of this presentation responds to a specific set of concerns. I could, after all, have used alternative words such as "rethinking", "reimagining" or "reinventing". The reason for my lexical choice is to put emphasis on, precisely, an issue of structure.