The Function Of Humanity And Morality

So, what exactly does Humanism mean? According to the Stanford University’s Humanities center, they describe the humanities as, “The study of how people process and document the human experience. Since humans have been able, we have used philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history and language to understand and record our world. These modes of expression have become some of the subjects that traditionally fall under the humanities umbrella. Knowledge of these records of human experience gives us the opportunity to feel a sense of connection to those who have come before us, as well as to our contemporaries.”

“The church (…) individualism was identical with arrogance, rebellion, and sin”(doc 1). This shows that actions like rebellion and sin relate with individualism, which is just like Humanism. “In true order that mortal man should first care for mortal things”(doc 4). This just shows how important things have meant to people, and to respect person’s property. Humanism brought the idea of civilized people with great ideas into the world. Before the Renaissance, religion was everything, when the Renaissance came, the people were exposed to the arts and

According to Joyce A. Little, the major moral problem that human’s face is that when people attempt to agree upon attacking evil, their different opinions separate their views on identifying exactly what should be right? Little expresses the problem as "we cannot agree on what would be right or good for society...by people whose fundamental views of reality are radically opposed to the Church 's" (23).

suggests that on a global scale, unique societies fail to share the same evaluative language when

The theory that I find true to the true nature of moral responsibility and its relation to human freedom and determinism would be compatibilism. Compatibilism is the claim that we are both determined and that we have moral responsibility (Lawhead 120).

Humanism is a way of life that revolves around the interests of people. It stresses human worth and building up self-realization. Humanism was developed in Greece and Rome, and is generally due to philosophy and current literary works during 1400-1650. It is termed "Classical Humanism" because it was born during that time period. Classical Humanism had an impact during the Renaissance Era.

Humanism is surrounded by humans, that humans are the most high and most developed on the universe. Basically Humanism is based off political, ethical, and economical matter and values but disregards the basic questions (Sheldon 1). Humanism has been associated with the Renaissance, which was an artistic movement that started around the 1400’s and lasting for two years. “The idea of the ‘modern’ period in human history as distinct from the ‘ ancient’ and ‘middle’ or ‘ dark age’ originated with humanist during the Renaissance” (“Renaissance Humanism”1). There was an effect on renaissance ideas, “an effect of Renaissance ideas on perception of history was the replacing of a providential view of time with an ancient cyclical and Arabic astrological perspective” (Sheldon 1). Finally the Renaissance spread across the map to Alps, Germany. The Renaissance turned into a strong moral and a forceful education. The Germans cared more about what’s within than the outlooks of life or things (Biesinger 3). Renaissance came along way. “The founder of Renaissance humanism was Petrarch (1304-1374)” (“Humanism” 1). Petrarch’s birth name is Francesco Petrarca and he was

Humanism was the study of Latin and Greek literature with the goal of understanding human nature. It was the focus on themselves, rather than the focus on religion. Unlike those

The link between morality and human nature has been a progressive reoccurring theme since ancient times (Prinz, 2008). Moral development is a characteristic of a person’s general development that transpires over the course of a lifetime. Moral development is derived by a wide variety of cultural and demographic factors that appear to influence morally relevant actions. Turiel (2006) defined morality as an individuals “prescriptive judgments of justice, rights, and welfare pertaining to how people ought to relate to each other.” Individuals’ moral judgments are frequently considered to be a product of culturally specific controls that provide a framework for behavioral motivations that are sensitive to the effects of gender, education, religion and politics (Banerjee, Huebner & Hauser, 2010). While several approaches have been utilized to examine the interaction of multivariate contributors to fundamental moral differences such as: disputes about family life, sexuality, social fairness, and so on, research has suggested that ideological considerations have provided a potent and diverse explanation for the polarization of contrasting views (Weber & Federico, 2013).

At first, humanism was actually thought by some to be a way of validating and supporting the Church. With man being viewed as the measure of all things, and man being created in the image of God, it would be shown how God is perfect in every way. Pico della Mirandola's literary work Oration on the Dignity of Man is a clear example of how the early goal of humanism was to create a better understanding of God, stating how humanity is the apex of creation, creating a link with the world of God and of the creation (Cunningham 24).

4, pp. 69 ff.), "Humanism recognizes the value and dignity of man and makes him the measure of all things or somehow takes human nature, its limits, or its interests as its theme."

Encarta Dictionary says that Humanism is a system of thought that centers on human beings and their values, capacities and worth. Encarta also goes on the say that, in philosophy, humanism is an attitude that emphasizes the dignity and worth of an individual. A basic premise of humanism is that people are rational beings who possess within themselves the capacity for truth and goodness. I see myself as a being a humanist through everyday life. I always try to see the good in a person when he/she makes me angry or sad, and say I to myself that maybe that person has had a bad day and living life is difficult at the moment. Socrates was even an early humanist of sorts. He can be quoted as saying, "to know the good is to do the

With numerous wars, murders, and rapes it’s normal to think that humans tend towards disorder. Even at a young age, humans are selfish and think egocentrically. If they are lucky, they grow up to think abstractly, only to use those thoughts to outsmart another human. However, human nature is fundamentally good: if one was to strip a human of their social responsibilities and influences, they would realize that a human is simple-minded and morally good. They openly donate their time and resources to care for their loved ones. It’s only when societal beliefs interfere with moral logic does one not care for their family members, justifying their reasoning with something like, “I don’t have enough time to get my mom her medication. I have to go to work.”

Modern literature is a reflection of modern society, and the ways in which humanity is valued has greatly impacted the modern age. The view of humanity is the effect of a worldview. One of the most important places in which to observe the view of humanity is in the United States. For over half of the 20th century, the US population was divided; this division was not between the states or north and south. This division was in every county, town and city. The entire nation was segregated; blacks against whites. Racial segregation was the antithesis of everything which America had originally stood for. The United States, by tolerating laws that allowed segregation, denied the truth that all men are created equal and thus deserved equal and fair treatment. This fundamental truth is not only necessary for protecting the sanctity of life but also to maintain the integrity of American laws. When the states passed laws, making it legal to separate humans into groups and treat them better or worse, solely based on the color of their skin, they opened the door for other types of segregation, as well as denied the biblical truth that man was created in the image of God. If it becomes morally acceptable to discriminate based race, then it logically follows that discrimination based on sex or socio-economic status is also moral. Postmodernism, the philosophical ideology that denies the existence of absolute truth, essentially made it acceptable for truth to be made relative.

As religion heads closer to extinction shown by the steady global increase of those claiming no religious affiliation, the question of whether religion is crucial to a harmonious and progressive civilization is posed. With the implementation of basic human rights, religion’s fundamental use as a form of societal control to pacify populations becomes ever redundant. There is no longer the necessity of religion to be the basis of a moral code. Nations categorized by low degrees of social and economical security have the lowest prevalence of atheism and vise versa (high security = highest prevalence of atheism). Due to the correlation between prosperity and lack of religion, more secularly prosperous nations are moving away from sectarianism to secularism. Socio- economic well-being generally results in a decline in the social significance of religion as it’s function as a social safety- net becomes unnecessary. However, no culture has been without religion in one form of another (myths, gods etc.) as a result of our biological craving to justify the unexplained. Nonetheless, religion arguably hinders growth of modern society by its tendency to ignore factual based findings and replacing doubt with a false, unsubstantiated surety. More than half the people under the age of 50 stated that religion was not important. Furthermore, recent findings demonstrate that the shift of religious importance by generation will persist unless religion does not tolerate society’s values. This