HUMANISM ETHICS

        The ancient Greeks were probably the first humanists.  Protagoras wrote, “The human is the measure of all things.”  Sophocies expounded on that notion by saying, “Of all the many wonders of the world, there is none so wonderful as the human.”

          Today, humanism is an orientation and an approach with applications in virtually all professional disciplines, including education, counseling, law, and medicine.  Elizabeth Campbell, a past executive director of the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP), wrote that, “Humanistic psychology holds a hopeful view of people and their ability to be self-determining, self-actualizing, and capable of making choices.”  In addition, she listed the likely results of humanism:

1.      Promotes human growth and transformation;

2.      Provides priority to human needs;

3.      Holistically insists on looking at all-encompassing systems;

4.      Honors the subjective and the intuitive in the study of humans; and,

5.      Supports self-disclosure, trust, and openness as ways of being in the world.

       Campbell’s description fits closely with assertions made in the Humanist Manifesto, a collaborative effort written in 1933.  The writings declare that the purposes and practice of humanism is to:

1.      Affirm life, rather than deny it;

2.      Seek to elicit the possibilities of life, not flee from it; and,

3.      Endeavor to establish the conditions of a satisfactory life for all, not merely the few.

This philosophy of life asserts that human beings are responsible for their own destinies.

       From the Humanist’s perspective, principles are chosen where their ultimate value is not determined, nor is the value-determination possible.  Such ethical philosophy usually equates satisfaction in life with prudence, power, or pleasure but it is basically derived from belief in the ethical doctrine of natural human fulfillment as the ultimate good.  Those lacking motivation to exercise preferences, may be resigned to accepting all customs and, therefore, develop a philosophy of prudence.  They live in conformity with a mix of ethical standards, popular with society at the time.  Where power is considered the highest attainment for man, competition is identified as the motivating force of achievement.  Because each victory tends to raise the level of competition, the logical end of such a philosophy is unlimited or absolute power, which of course, is not possible.  Power seekers may not accept customary ethical rules but may conform to other rules that can help them become successful.  They will seek to persuade others that they are moral in the accepted sense of the term, in order to mask their power motives and gain the ordinary rewards of morality.

       Kenneth W. Phifer, a Harvard University educated Unitarian minister in Massachusetts, affirms his humanistic philosophy of life by articulating, “I have faith in that part of humanism, which sees the human being as the highest form of life; an end, not a means; the creator of moral values; the maker of history.”  Odd, that a Harvard educated, Massachusetts citizen would hold counter-cultural views!

The contrast of Minister Phifer’s humanistic philosophy can be no more striking, than when it is compared with the Apostle Paul’s writing in the book of Galatians:  “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear:  sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissention, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.”  Gal. 5:19-21 (NLT).