Humanism

Humanism

Humanism: Love for All, Hatred for None
"Humanism believes that the individual attains the good life by harmoniously combining personal satisfactions and continuous self-development with significant work and other activities that contribute to the welfare of the community." Corliss Lamont [1]
 
          Humanism is a rather ambiguous term when one attempts to arrive at a definition for it. When I first began to think about what humanism meant, I realized that I had no idea whatsoever. In fact, I learned that humanism could be defined in various ways according to different people. It all comes down to the culture and belief that the person’s thinking is built on. Humanism was significant in the period of the Renaissance when people started to see how humans were capable of expressing different things through the use of art and literature. Over the years, humanism was adapted to a wider area of studies such as humanities, and slowly numerous other definitions were introduced. All these definitions, although different, are similar in one way, that they hold humans as superior intellectual beings. For me, the meaning of humanism revolves around Lamont’s definition given above. Humanism is a philosophy where humans provide services to the community for the greater good of humanity. Similarly, Lamont says that any individual attains a good life by contributing to the happiness of people through different kinds of services to the community. These services can include any kind of community service, words of advice, voluntary work, and so on. A few personal and worldly experiences will provide a better understanding of these services that aid in the greater good of humanity.
          There are so many ways in which humanism has been defined by different artists, philosophers, writers, scientists, and so on, but as the name humanism suggests, it is do anything that is in support for the benefit of humanity. When the meaning for this term in the...