On Humanism

Albert Einstein, Isaac Asimov, E.M. Forster, Bertrand Russell, and Gloria Steinem all declared themselves humanists. What is humanism and why does it matter? If it rejects religion, what does it offer in its place? Have the twentieth century's crimes against humanity spelled the end for humanism? Drawing on a range of examples from Aristotle to Primo Levi and the novels of Virginia Woolf, On Humanismis a powerfully argued philosophical defence of humanism. It is also an impassioned plea that we turn to ourselves, not religion, if we want to answer Socrates' age-old question: what is the best kind of life to lead? Although humanism has much in common with science, Richard Norman shows that it is far from a denial of the more mysterious, fragile side of being human, and deals with big questions such as the environment, Darwinism and 'creation science', euthanasia and abortion. This revised second edition includes a new chapter on the debates of "the New Atheists" such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens, who have boldly rearticulated arguments for a humanist alternative to religion. Also featuring an expanded discussion of immortality and Christian claims about the Resurrection, On Humanismis a lucid and timely reflection on this much talked about but little understood phenomenon.

Richard Norman is a committed humanist and the author of many books including The Moral Philosophers (1983, 1998) and Ethics, Killing and War (1995). He was formerly Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.