Humanism and Its Aspirations

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Humanism and Its Aspirations (subtitled Humanist Manifesto III, a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933) is the most recent of the Humanist Manifestos, published in 2003 by the American Humanist Association (AHA).[1] The newest one is much shorter, listing six primary beliefs, which echo themes from its predecessors:

  • Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis. (See empiricism.)
  • Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change.
  • Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience. (See ethical naturalism.)
  • Life's fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals.
  • Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships.
  • Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness.

It has been used as source material for secular and atheist ethics. [2]

Signatories

Academics and other prominent persons were signatories to the document, attesting "We who sign Humanism and Its Aspirations declare ourselves in general agreement with its substance":

Notable signatories

  • Philip Appleman (poet and distinguished professor emeritus of English, Indiana University)
  • Khoren Arisian (senior leader, New York Society for Ethical Culture)
  • Bill Baird (reproductive rights pioneer)
  • Frank Berger (pharmacologist, developer of anti-anxiety drugs)
  • Howard Box (minister emeritus, Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, Tennessee)
  • Lester R. Brown (founder and president, Earth Policy Institute)
  • August E. Brunsman IV (executive director, Secular Student Alliance)
  • Rob Buitenweg (vice president,
    International Humanist and Ethical Union
    )
  • Vern Bullough (sexologist and former co-president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union)
  • David Bumbaugh (professor, Meadville Lombard Theological School)
  • Matthew Cherry (executive director, Institute for Humanist Studies)
  • Joseph Chuman (visiting professor of religion, Columbia University, and leader, Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, New Jersey)
  • Curt Collier (leader, Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture, New York)
  • Fred Cook (retired executive committee member, International Humanist and Ethical Union)
  • Carl Coon (former
    U.S. Ambassador to Nepal
    )
  • Richard Dawkins
  • Charles Debrovner (president, NACH/The Humanist Institute)
  • Arthur Dobrin (professor of humanities, Hofstra University and leader emeritus Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island, New York)
  • Margaret Downey (president, Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia)
  • Sonja Eggerickx (vice president, Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen, Belgium, and vice president International Humanist and Ethical Union)
  • Riane Eisler (president, Center for Partnership Studies)
  • Albert Ellis
    (creator of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and founder of the Albert Ellis Institute)
  • Edward L. Ericson (leader emeritus, Ethical Culture)
  • Roy P. Fairfield (co-founder, Union Graduate School)
  • Antony Flew (philosopher)
  • Levi Fragell (president, International Humanist and Ethical Union)
  • Jerome Isaac Friedman (Nobel Laureate, Physics)
  • Arun Gandhi
    (co-founder, M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence)
  • Kendyl Gibbons (president, Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association)
  • Sol Gordon (sexologist)
  • Ethelbert Haskins (retired treasurer of the Humanist Foundation)
  • Jim Herrick (editor, the New Humanist)
  • Quaid-e-Azam University
    , Islamabad, Pakistan)
  • Fran P. Hosken (editor, Women's International Network News)
  • Joan Johnson Lewis (president, National Leaders Council of the American Ethical Union)
  • Stefan Jonasson (immediate past president,
    HUUmanists
    )
  • Larry Jones (president, Institute for Humanist Studies)
  • Edwin Kagin (founder and director, Camp Quest)
  • Beth Lamont (AHA NGO representative to the United Nations)
  • Gerald A. Larue (professor emeritus of Biblical history and archaeology, University of Southern California)
  • Joseph Levee (board member, Council for Secular Humanism)
  • Ellen McBride (immediate past president, American Ethical Union)
  • Lester Mondale (retired Unitarian Universalist minister and signer of Humanist Manifestos I and II)
  • Henry Morgentaler (abortion rights pioneer)
  • Stephen Mumford (president, Center for Research on Population and Security)
  • William Murry (president and dean, Meadville Lombard Theological School)
  • Sarah Oelberg (president, HUUmanists)
  • Indumati Parikh (president, Center for the Study of Social Change, India)
  • Philip Paulson
    (Church-state activist)
  • Katha Pollitt (columnist, the Nation)
  • Howard Radest (dean emeritus, the Humanist Institute)
  • James "Amazing" Randi (magician, founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation)
  • Larry Reyka (president, the Humanist Society)
  • David Schafer (retired research physiologist, U.S. Veterans Administration)
  • Eugenie Scott (executive director, National Center for Science Education)
  • Skeptic magazine
    )
  • James R. Simpson (professor of international agricultural economics, Ryukoku University, Japan)
  • Warren Allen Smith (editor and author)
  • Matthew les Spetter (associate professor in social psychology at the Peace Studies Institute of Manhattan College, NY)
  • Oliver Stone (Academy Award-winning filmmaker)
  • John Swomley (professor emeritus of social ethics, St. Paul School of Theology)
  • Robert Tapp (dean, the Humanist Institute)
  • Carl Thitchener (co-minister, Unitarian Universalist Church of Amherst and of
    Canandaigua, New York
    )
  • Maureen Thitchener (co-minister, Unitarian Universalist Church of Amherst and of Canandaigua, New York)
  • Rodrigue Tremblay (Emeritus professor of economics and of international finance, Universite de Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
  • Kurt Vonnegut (novelist)
  • John Weston (ministerial settlement director, Unitarian Universalist Association)
  • Edward O. Wilson (professor, Harvard University
    , and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner)
  • Sherwin Wine (founder and president, Society for Humanistic Judaism)

Nobel laureates

22 Nobel laureates were among the signatories:

Past AHA presidents

AHA board members

  • Melvin Lipman (president)
  • Lois Lyons (vice president)
  • Ronald W. Fegley (secretary)
  • John Nugent (treasurer)
  • Wanda Alexander
  • John R. Cole
  • Tom Ferrick
  • Robert D. Finch
  • John M. Higgins
  • Herb Silverman
  • Maddy Urken
  • Mike Werner

Drafting committee

  • Fred Edwords (chair)
  • Edd Doerr (also included above as a past AHA president)
  • Tony Hileman
  • Pat Duffy Hutcheon
  • Maddy Urken

See also

  • International Humanist and Ethical Union
    .

References

  1. ^ "Humanism and its Aspirations". American Humanist Association, 2003. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  2. ^ "St. Paul's atheists are coming out of the closet". St. Cloud Times. Retrieved 2019-08-23.

External links

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