Topic: Humanism in the modern world. What is humanism and humanity in modern society

2. Sandra Tsiligeridou and a group of her friends rescued a Syrian refugee whom they found stranded at sea near the Greek island of Kos. He clung to a life jacket and drifted out to sea for 13 hours.

3. A Munich policeman who took a moment for a boy to try on his hat.

5. Antonis Deligiorgis decided to dive into the water and single-handedly pulled 20 Syrian refugees out of the water, seeing as their boat hit the rocks and scattered chips off the coast of the island of Rhodes, Greece.

6. 50,000 donations were raised for this Syrian from a Palestinian refugee camp after he was photographed selling pens to feed his family.

Abdul Halim al-Qader hopes to use the money to move his family to Europe. "All I want is to educate my children," said Kader, "to send them to school, to help them get an education."

7. These Hungarians put food on the highway. And they provided water to refugees walking to Austria.

8. More than 25,000 people in Vienna took to the streets to show that they are ready to welcome refugees.

9. And 10,000 Australians who rallied in cities across the country, demanding attention from the government on the issue of refugees.

10. Artists from all over the world have begun to create beautiful and heartbreaking works of art in honor of Aylan and Galip Kurdi, Syrian babies whose deaths at sea last week horrified the whole world.

One example of such creativity is the graffiti wall in Sorocaba, Brazil.

11. The moment when Layt Majid, a Syrian father, was photographed in tears of joy upon arriving with his son and daughter on the Greek island of Kos.

This photo shows Majid and his family after being admitted three weeks later at a refugee camp in Berlin.

12. German and Austrian activists violated Hungarian law in order to assemble a car convoy to transport refugees to Austria.

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The emergence of an organized humanist movement in our country is associated with the activities of the Russian (until 2001 - Russian) Humanist Society (RGO). It received legal registration on May 16, 1995 as an interregional public association of secular (non-religious) humanists. The society became "the first non-governmental organization in the history of Russia to set as its goal the support and development of the idea of secular humanism, a humanistic style of thinking and psychology, a humane way of life." The founder of the Russian Geographical Society and its permanent leader is Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Department of History of Russian Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov V. A. Kuvakin. Now let's turn to those definitions of humanism that are given today by Russian humanists. Valery Kuvakin believes that humanism is a consequence of humanity naturally inherent in man. "It is assumed by the ordinary fact that each of us has our own I, that there is a man as a man who has" behind his soul "something positive." However, this does not mean at all that people, so to speak, are "doomed" to humanism. Even the philosophers of Ancient Greece (Chrysippus, Sextus Empiricus) noted that three groups of qualities are inherent in a human being - positive, negative and neutral. Neutral human qualities (these include all physical, neuropsychological and cognitive abilities, freedom, love and other psycho-emotional characteristics) are neither good nor bad in themselves, but become such when combined with positive and negative human qualities. On the basis of negative qualities, something opposite to humanism is formed, for example, a criminal or sadistic worldview. It is quite real and represents a person's irrational craving for destruction and self-destruction. The qualities that characterize the positive pole of human nature include "benevolence, sympathy, compassion, responsiveness, reverence, sociability, participation, a sense of justice, responsibility, gratitude, tolerance, decency, cooperation, solidarity, etc."

The main sign of the fundamental nature of humanism is the special nature of its connection with the personality, which makes an actual choice of itself not just as an individual I (which happens in an ordinary act of self-awareness), but an I worthy of the best in itself and equal to all the values of the world. “A person's awareness of his own humanity, its resources and capabilities is a decisive intellectual procedure that transfers him from the level of humanity to the level of humanism. No matter how incredible it may sometimes seem, humanity is an irreplaceable element of the inner world of any mentally normal person. Absolutely inhuman people are not it happens and cannot be. But there are no absolutely, one hundred percent human people. We are talking about the predominance and struggle in the personality of both ". Thus, an important feature of the humanistic movement is the priority of the value of the concrete person himself, his worthy lifestyle over any forms of ideological and ideological organization, including in relation to any, even the most brilliantly formulated humanistic doctrine or program. The humanistic appeal is "ultimately, a call to a person not to accept something from the outside indifferently, but first to find oneself with the help of oneself and objective possibilities, this is a call to courageously and benevolently accept oneself as or what you are, to get to the bottom, to see in itself the positive foundations of oneself, one's value, freedom, dignity, self-esteem, self-affirmation, creativity, communication and equal cooperation with their own kind and all others - social and natural - no less worthy and amazing realities. " Alexander Kruglov also believes that humanism is humanity, that is, "the willingness to build a life together on the minimum of the simplest, directly felt by everyone, universal values (the obvious mutual right of everyone to life, dignity, property), giving views on everything else to freedom of conscience ". Thus, humanism is not an ideology, but it is the ground on which we stand when we want to forget about the sacred tyranny of any ideology. Humanism as a worldview position, alternative to any ideological system, can offer a person the consciousness of all life as a value, as well as teach him to live for values outside himself - for his neighbor, the planet, the future. "The meaning of my life is in itself, and in how I will help the lives of others; in the fact that the world will not die with me, and I can also contribute to this, my immortality is concluded. And if personal metaphysics whispers something to me about some kind of immortality - my happiness. "

Lev Balashov puts forward 40 theses on humanism. He notes that humanistic philosophy is "the mentality of thinking people, a conscious attitude towards humanity without borders," and humanism is "conscious, meaningful humanity." For a humanist, a person is valuable in himself as such, already by virtue of his birth. Initially, all people deserve a positive attitude - law-abiding and criminals, men and women, tribesmen or representatives of another nationality, believers or non-believers. Humanism seeks to avoid the extremes of both collectivism, which infringes upon the individual freedom of a person, and individualism, which ignores or infringes upon the freedom of others. The main principle, guideline of moral and, accordingly, legal behavior for a humanist is the golden rule of behavior. In its negative form, the golden rule is formulated as follows: "Do not do to others what you would not want to be done to you," in a positive form it reads: "Do with others as you would like to be treated with you." The negative form of the golden rule sets the minimum bar for a person's moral attitude to other people (prohibits doing evil), the positive form sets the maximum bar for moral attitude (encourages good), determines the maximum requirements for human behavior. Evgeny Smetanin defines humanism as "a worldview based on humanity, that is, philanthropy, respect for human dignity." He associates the pedigree of humanity with those traits that distinguish homo sapiens from animals. Humanity begins with the awareness of oneself and one's place in the surrounding world. If an animal has a desire to biologically survive, then in humans it is transformed into a desire for self-improvement, for the acquisition of useful experience. "Humanity arises when this striving is directed at someone else, first if close, familiar, then at a distant, and often at a stranger." Such a transfer of feelings and attitudes from oneself to the rest of the human race, a gradual transition from instincts to conscious actions directed with good intentions to other people and the world around them, is characteristic of all human activity. One of the conditions for maintaining humanity in society is the presence and accumulation of moral and ethical forms of community. The highest manifestation of the personal principle in a person is the ability to live in harmony with the surrounding world, constantly developing and improving, requires true and worthy self-determination based on experience, common sense, on the conviction of the triumph of humanity. "Humanism as a worldview best contributes to the creation of a society of humane people."

Defining humanism as humanity, Russian humanists by no means live in a world of illusions and realize how far their ideals are from the real practice of social relations in our country. V. L. Ginzburg and V. A. Kuvakin believe that the way of thinking of a humanist as "a truly mature, serious, naturally democratic and generally balanced person", to put it mildly, does not harmonize with the cultural, moral and psychological atmosphere of modern Russia. Among the reasons for the "unpopularity" of humanistic ideas, they single out such factors as: 1) the non-commercial nature of humanistic values, their focus on common sense; 2) the alienation of humanism to any eccentricity; 3) a high level of self-discipline, independence, freedom, moral, legal and civil responsibility, which presents a humanistic worldview to its adherents (ibid.). However, despite the not very favorable public atmosphere, Russian humanists believe that our country simply does not have an alternative to humanism. In their opinion, neither religious fundamentalism and nationalism, nor decadent postmodernism are able to offer real ways to improve public life. Modern Russian secular humanists, writes V. A. Kuvakin, will not wait doomily for a happy fate, a strong, just and kind ruler, or a "Russian idea" descending from heaven to finally save Russia. They are convinced that "an active attitude towards oneself and the environment, an active, courageous, creative, independent and viable position can ensure a person's dignified position in society."

Conclusion Humanism is traditionally defined as a system of views that recognize the value of a person as an individual, his right to freedom, happiness and development, and declare the principles of equality and humanity to be the norm in relations between people. Western Europe is declared the homeland of humanism in textbooks and encyclopedias, and its roots in world history can be traced back to antiquity. Among the values of traditional Russian culture, an important place was occupied by the values of humanism (goodness, justice, non-acquisitiveness, the search for truth - which is reflected in Russian folklore, Russian classical literature, socio-political thought).

At present, the ideas of humanism have experienced a certain crisis in our country over the past 15 years. Ideas of possessiveness and self-sufficiency (the cult of money) were opposed to humanism. As an ideal, Russians were offered a “self-made man” - a person who made himself and does not need any external support. The ideas of justice and equality - the basis of humanism - have lost their former attractiveness and are now not even included in the program documents of the majority of Russian parties and the Russian government. Our society gradually began to turn into nuclear, when its individual members began to isolate themselves within the framework of their home and their own family. The humanistic traditions of Russian society are undermined by xenophobia, which is being strengthened by the activities of many domestic mass media. The distrust of “foreigners” and the fear of immigrants from the Caucasus or the countries of Central Asia among many Russians (at least Muscovites) turned into hatred of huge social groups. After the explosions in Moscow in the fall of 1999, the city was on the verge of pogroms, the victims of which could be not only Chechens, but also Muslims in general. Analytical articles devoted to clarifying the peacemaking essence of Islam or proving that not all the inhabitants of the Caucasus were involved in the terrorist attacks went unnoticed by most of the inhabitants, while nationalist programs on television were available to everyone. This path of development inevitably leads society to a dead end. Europe and the United States realized this after the Second World War. Europe was shocked by the Holocaust and the extermination of the Roma in Nazi Germany. In the United States, after high-profile protests by the black population in the 1950s and 1960s, the official ideology of “melting-pot” (a melting pot in which all peoples living in the country are melted into a single nation of Americans) was replaced by the ideology of “salad-bowl” (salad bowls , where all peoples are united within one country, but each retains its identity). Russian society must turn to this experience and move away from blind copying of already outdated Western models.

This should be facilitated, first of all, by a deeper and more detailed study of culture. The ideas of humanism are practically nowhere formulated clearly, but the very spirit of justice and equality permeates almost all Russian literature. The traditions of humanism are great in painting (especially in the works of the Wanderers, whose focus was on the common man) and music (both in folk songs and in the classics - starting with the opera "Ivan Susanin" by MI Glinka). Studying the history of the Fatherland allows everyone to see the positive role that representatives of various nations played in it, and the idea of consolidating all estates and social groups was clearly manifested in difficult moments of Russian history, such as the Troubles or the Great Patriotic War. The media can play an important role in spreading these ideas, but market laws often dictate very different editorial policies. A more complete study of other cultures will allow a Russian to understand a representative of a different nation, race, who professes a different religion. The state can do a lot to preserve the humanistic traditions of Russian society. Free education and medicine prevent the disintegration of Russian society into estates and property groups; their preservation should remain a priority, although this does not meet the requirements of a market economy. A well-thought-out tax policy and a careful attitude towards public sector employees will help to reduce the enormous income gap between representatives of different social groups. An active fight against corruption should contribute to strengthening the idea of justice. But even if this is not the case, Russian society is unlikely to expect a final disintegration along ethnic or class grounds. Culture and the educational system act as a factor cementing society. For most ordinary Russians, the ideas of the value of human life, justice and equality are inalienable. There are also people serving the poor and shaming the skinheads. The traditions of Russian philanthropy are still alive - even if this charity is not completely disinterested, as, for example, the Triumph Prize established by B. Berezovsky or grants issued to scientists. Russian school teachers and university professors have an important cultural mission. For the final elimination of the idea of humanism in Russian society, more than one generation must change. Such a scenario, in my opinion, is not feasible in Russia.

In the twentieth century, important events took place in the world that radically changed the approach to the ethics of humanism, first of all, two world wars, which clearly demonstrated that even developed Western countries, with their attention to humanity, did not develop a true concept of humanism that would protect the world from sliding into the chaos of wars and unrest. On the one hand, humanity, represented by scientists and a philosopher, was forced to admit that it looked too narrowly at the ideas of humanism (in particular, it concerned the so popular Marxist socialist humanism), and on the other, that it actually knocked the spiritual foundation out from under its feet, opposing traditional religions and humanism.

The past century in the history of the development of humanism was characterized by the expansion of the subject of study of the ethics of humanism, the smoothing out of the contradictions between religious and secular humanism, the legal formalization of the basic principles of humanism and humanity.

In 1948, the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On the basis of the Declaration, national humanistic concepts are developed, which are enshrined in the Constitutions of states. It turned out that it is impossible to reduce the understanding of humanism to its class or ideological orientation. It also became obvious that true humanism is the recognition of the value of not just a person's life, but his life in harmony with other living beings, as well as with the biosphere in general. This is how ecological humanism and bioethics were born, which reject the anthropocentrism of classical and post-non-classical philosophy. Special attention was paid to the problems of human freedom in the context of multiculturalism and globalization.

As a result, modern humanism has developed a number of fundamental theses:

Man and his happiness are the highest value on Earth, but the value of animal life and the integrity of the living shell of the Earth is also undeniable;

Protecting and promoting human and animal rights are essential tools for achieving shared prosperity and happiness;

Another important condition for happiness is human freedom - the freedom to exercise one's rights, incl. freedom of conscience and voice, freedom of knowledge, research, communication, etc .;

Any suppression of evil, as a violation of the rights and freedoms of people and animals, should be carried out exclusively in the legal field without the use of violence;

The use of science, technology and art should be for the benefit of people and all living things;

Education plays a major role in society, incl. moral role in the life of the individual.

In 1952, the International Humanist and Ethical Union was created in Holland. This institution, in cooperation with the UN, is engaged in the protection of human rights in the field of economics, ecology, culture and social relations. This work is relevant given that in many countries of the world systematic violations of fundamental human rights continue, discrimination on various grounds, inhuman and unethical attitude towards people, animals and the environment takes place. The Union itself understands by humanism “a democratic, ethical life position, which asserts that human beings have the right and responsibility to determine the meaning and form of their lives. Humanism calls for the construction of a more humane society through ethics based on human and other natural values, in the spirit of reason and free search, through the use of human abilities. "

So, we can understand that modern humanism is not only a term from ethics, but also from the theory and practice of legal science, which speaks of the applied period in the development of humanism. At the same time, in modern humanism, the categories of virtues are somewhat blurred, so they were replaced by the concept of "human potential". This term was first used by M. Desai (1940) and A. Sen (1933). If earlier the ethics of humanism did not go beyond the limits of the moral, pedagogical or epistemological approach, then at the beginning of the XXI century. an integrated approach comes to the fore, considering humanity as a complex system of social ties. This trend, according to experts, will continue in the near future.

In the light of the above, the works of domestic and foreign scientists who deal with the problems of human resource management and study its humanistic methods acquire particular relevance: L. Aker, K. Batal, J.G. Boyette, D. Bossaert, O. Borisova, P. Zhuravlev, J. Gaal and others. At the same time, they distinguish different approaches to humanism itself: historical anthropological, cultural, sociocentric, problem-conceptual, topographic, semantic and structural-functional. Considering various aspects of humanism within the framework of these approaches, all researchers agree that its essence remains unchanged: human happiness, the right of people to develop their abilities, as a true expression of the value of life, built on the principle of freedom and responsibility of individuals. That is, the modern ideal of the ethics of humanism is the free, reasonable and responsible participation of a person in the life of society, societies, the Planet. The task of the future is to spread this understanding throughout the Earth and help man to rethink his responsibility not only to other people, but also to nature. If the task of the humanists of the Renaissance was to transfer knowledge to the next generations, then modern humanists should transfer knowledge not only to descendants, but to contemporaries living in other countries, where the ideas of humanism are not yet popular. All this is dictated by the rapid development of information technologies, which, however, can help modern humanists.

Among the important problems to be solved by humanism are environmental pollution and depletion of resources, as an ethical problem, human relations and scientific and technological progress, humanity and ethics of new, in particular medical technologies, the fight against terrorism, problems of minorities and tolerance, defining boundaries personal freedom of a person and citizen, the settlement of political crises and many others. dr.

Methodologically, modern humanism is based on the ideas of free exploration of all spheres of human activity, rationalism, skepticism, naturalism, enlightening character, eudemonicity (the pursuit of happiness), appeal to the best in human experience, planetarity, realism, optimism and meliorism (striving for progress) ... Of course, not the last role is assigned to democracy and global ethics.

Thus, modern humanism acts in four directions:

Development of philosophical scientific naturalism;

Introduction of humanistic ethics in the spheres of public relations;

Protection of the values of social policy (support and development of the rule of law and civil society, democracy, social protection, freedom of conscience and speech);

Allocation of a synthetic scientific picture of the world as the main worldview of mankind, opposition to religious fundamentalism and legal nihilism.

At the same time, humanism, being a part of science, goes beyond its limits, becoming not an ideology, but a worldview inherent in all people, which cannot be appropriated or monopolized. Humanism as a worldview, although it is regulated partly by law, cannot be limited by science or politics, art or religion.

From the point of view of public democratic consciousness, modern humanism primarily serves to:

Protection and guarantees of the rights of people and living beings in the conditions of their humane life;

Support for the more vulnerable segments of the population where society's perceptions of justice differ from generally accepted ones;

Formation of the social and ethical qualities of the human personality with the aim of its self-realization on the basis of social norms and values, the development of education, as the basis of humanism.

The future of the ethics of humanism is closely related to integration with common scientific, democratic, moral and environmental ideas and norms. This is necessary for building an open democratic society in the conditions of planetary ethics, expanding the moral freedom of people, taking into account responsibility before a planetary society, combating discrimination, violence and injustice.

Therefore, we can see that, as in the Ancient World, and in the Middle Ages, and later, today people strive for the same thing - for justice as an ethical category, the victory of good over evil. This testifies to the co-evolutionary nature of the ethics of humanism. That is, humanism went through a long period of its evolutionary development, which was accompanied by the social evolution of mankind. The more perfect and clearer the ideas of people about good and evil, about justice and good, the clearer became the idea of humanism, its principles and indicators. All this allows in the future to study humanism in the system "man - society - state - nature". This means that to develop the ethics of humanism and humane behavior as the basic ideological paradigm of mankind, the strategic basis of social progress, the guarantee of cooperation, harmony and prosperity, both of society and of individuals.

2. Humanism in modern Russia.

Conclusion.

Bibliography.

The very concept humanism, as an ontological and epistemological principle, goes back to the Renaissance and denotes such an approach to being, according to which ethical values and values of good exist only within the framework of human activity, and do not exist independently of this, i.e. are not absolute. This anthropocentric perception of reality is closely related to such value attitudes, according to which human activity cannot go beyond a person, is generated and conditioned only by human needs.

Modern humanism belongs to the number of ideological movements that received organizational form in the XX century. and intensively developing today. Today, humanist organizations exist in many countries of the world, including Russia. They are united in the International Ethical and Humanist Union (IHES), with more than 5 million members. Humanists build their activities on the basis of program documents - declarations, charters and manifestos, the most famous of which are "Humanist Manifesto-I" (1933), "Humanist Manifesto-II" (1973), "Declaration of Secular Humanism" (1980), " Humanist Manifesto-2000 "and others.

1. The emergence of modern humanism

Until the middle of the XIX century. in the western philosophical and cultural tradition, the concept of "humanism" was associated, as a rule, either with the humanism of the Renaissance, or with certain cultural trends. For the first time, the term "humanism" in the sense of a certain outlook on life, personal philosophy appeared in the Danish philosopher Gabriel Sibbern (Gabriel Sibbern, 1824-1903), the son of the famous thinker Frederick Christian Sibbern. In his book "On Humanism" ("Om humanisme", 1858), published in Copenhagen in Danish, Sibburn criticized the concept of revelation and supranaturalism.

In 1891, the famous British free-thinker John McKinnon Robertson (1856-1933) in his book "Modern humanists" ("Modern humanists") used the word "humanist" to characterize thinkers who defended the right to secular outlook on life. Among the latter, he mentioned T. Carlyle, R.W. Emerson, J.St. Mill and H. Spencer. Robertson did not explain why he called these particular authors humanists.

A famous role in spreading the new meaning of the concept of "humanism" belonged to the British pragmatist philosopher Ferdinand Canning Scott Schiller (1864-1937). At the beginning of the XX century. he used the word in the titles of his books - Humanism: Philosophical essays (1903) and Studies in humanism (1907). And although in these works Schiller wrote more about pragmatism than about humanism, nevertheless, in the English-speaking world, he was the first thinker to use the concept of "humanism" to express his own philosophical views.

Schiller's idea to use the term "humanism" in a new sense was supported in the United States by the philosopher John Dewey (1859-1952). Dewey believed that in the formation of correct points of view, we should proceed from the idea of the integrity of human nature (sympathies, interests, desires, etc.), and not only from intellect, logic or reason. However, the complexity of Dewey's own works did not allow giving the concept of "humanism" a broad resonance in the philosophical literature of his time (25, p. 299).

In the mid-1910s, a new understanding of humanism attracted the attention of representatives of the American Unitarian Church, who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the fall and the sacrament. Some Unitarian priests considered it possible, under the banner of religious humanism, to launch a campaign to democratize religious institutions. Key figures here were the Reverends Mary Safford and Curtis W. Reese (1887-1956) of the Unitarian Church in Des Moines, Iowa, and the Reverend John H. Dietrich) of the Unitarian Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Around 1917, Curtis Riese, addressing his community, declared the following: “Theocratic view of the world is autocratic. a person largely depends on what he will look like ... The revolution in the field of religion, consisting in the transition from theocracy to humanism, from autocracy to democracy, has matured for a long time ... Democratic religion takes the form of "this-sidedness" ... According to democratic religion, the main the goal of man is to promote human well-being here and now "(19, p. 7). Subsequently, Riese became a well-known representative of religious humanism in the United States. In 1949-1950. he chaired the American Humanist Association.

In the introduction to his book Humanist Sermons (1927), Riese described the features of his own version of humanism as follows. First, humanism is not materialism 2. In his opinion, humanism contains an organic, not a mechanistic view of life. Second, humanism is not positivism. Positivism as a religion is an artificial system that tries to replace traditional worship with service to humanity, considered in the unity of its past, present and future. However, it is obvious that the "humanity" of positivism is an abstraction, which in reality does not correspond to any specific object. This is unacceptable for humanism. Humanistic "service" presupposes its focus on a specific, specific person. Third, humanism is not rationalism. Humanism does not recognize either the Absolute Mind or the "mind" as a certain faculty of the mind. For him, intelligence is a function of organisms that manifests itself at various stages of their development. Therefore, for humanism, dependence on reason is no less dangerous than dependence on the Bible or on the Pope. Finally, fourthly, humanism is not atheism. Atheism usually means denying God. However, if humanists deny the existence of a personal transcendental God, then they are not more atheists than Spinoza or Emerson (31, p. 542).

The Unitarian version of humanism continues to exist today. In 1961, the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America merged to form the Unitarian Universalist Association. Modern Unitarists do not necessarily adhere to the religious version of humanism; there are also agnostic, atheistic or even secular humanists among them (31, p. 1117).

In the mid-1920s, more and more "ordinary" people began to appear in Western Europe and the United States, calling themselves humanists. They were agnostics, free-thinkers, rationalists and atheists, who believed that the word "humanist" was more appropriate to denote the essence of their views.

Speaking about the emergence of the humanist movement, one cannot ignore such a group of organizations as "ethical societies". Their main purpose was to strive to separate moral ideals from religious doctrines, metaphysical systems, and ethical theories in order to give them independent strength in personal life and social relations. The ethical movement organized programs of moral education in public schools, assisted in the development of the women's movement, and drew attention to existing racial, colonial and international problems (13, pp. 132-133).

The world's first Society for Ethical Culture was founded by Felix Adler in New York in May 1876. After the social work of this society gained recognition in his hometown, similar organizations began to be organized along his model as in other cities in the US and in Europe. In 1896, the English ethical societies founded the union, which from 1928 became known as the Ethical Union (The Ethical Union). The International Ethical Union was formed in 1896 in Zurich (Switzerland).

2. Humanism in modern Russia

Now let's turn to those definitions of humanism that are given today by Russian humanists.

Valery Kuvakin believes that humanism is a consequence of humanity naturally inherent in man. “It is assumed by the ordinary fact that each of us has our own I, that there is a person as a person who has“ behind his soul ”something positive” (11, p. 101). However, this does not mean at all that people, so to speak, are "doomed" to humanism. Even the philosophers of Ancient Greece (Chrysippus, Sextus Empiricus) noted that three groups of qualities are inherent in a human being - positive, negative and neutral.

Neutral human qualities (these include all physical, neuropsychological and cognitive abilities, freedom, love and other psycho-emotional characteristics) are neither good nor bad in themselves, but become such when combined with positive and negative human qualities. On the basis of negative qualities, something opposite to humanism is formed, for example, a criminal or sadistic worldview. It is quite real and represents a person's irrational craving for destruction and self-destruction. The qualities that characterize the positive pole of human nature include "benevolence, sympathy, compassion, responsiveness, reverence, sociability, participation, a sense of justice, responsibility, gratitude, tolerance, decency, cooperativity, solidarity, etc." (11, p. 102).

Thus, an important feature of the humanistic movement is the priority of the value of the concrete person himself, his worthy lifestyle over any forms of ideological and ideological organization, including in relation to any, even the most brilliantly formulated humanistic doctrine or program. The humanistic appeal is "ultimately, a call to a person not to accept something from the outside indifferently, but first to find oneself with the help of oneself and objective possibilities, this is a call to courageously and benevolently accept oneself as or what you are, to get to the bottom, to see in itself the positive foundations of oneself, one's value, freedom, dignity, self-esteem, self-affirmation, creativity, communication and equal cooperation with one's own kind and all others - social and natural - no less worthy and amazing realities "(11, p. 108).

Alexander Kruglov also believes that humanism is humanity, i.e. "the willingness to build a life together on the minimum of the simplest, directly felt by everyone, universal values (the obvious mutual right of everyone to life, dignity, property), leaving views on everything else to freedom of conscience" (11, p. 109). Thus, humanism is not an ideology, but it is the ground on which we stand when we want to forget about the sacred tyranny of any ideology.

Humanism as a worldview position, alternative to any ideological system, can offer a person the consciousness of all life as a value, as well as teach him to live for values outside himself - for his neighbor, the planet, the future. "The meaning of my life is in itself, and in what I will help the lives of others; in the same that the world will not die with me, and I can also contribute to this, my immortality is concluded. And if personal metaphysics whispers something I still talk about some kind of immortality - my happiness "(11, p. 122).

The main principle, guideline of moral and, accordingly, legal behavior for a humanist is the golden rule of behavior. In its negative form, the golden rule is formulated as follows: "Do not do to others what you would not want to be done to you," in a positive form it reads: "Do with others as you would like to be treated with you." The negative form of the golden rule sets the minimum bar for a person's moral attitude to other people (prohibits doing evil), the positive form sets the maximum bar for moral attitude (encourages good), determines the maximum requirements for human behavior.

Evgeny Smetanin defines humanism as "a worldview based on humanity, that is, philanthropy, respect for human dignity" (11, p. 131). He associates the pedigree of humanity with those traits that distinguish homo sapiens from animals. Humanity begins with the awareness of oneself and one's place in the surrounding world. If an animal has a desire to biologically survive, then in humans it is transformed into a desire for self-improvement, for the acquisition of useful experience. “Humanity arises when this striving is directed at someone else, first if close, familiar, then at a distant one, and often at a stranger” (ibid., P. 132).

Such a transfer of feelings and attitudes from oneself to the rest of the human race, a gradual transition from instincts to conscious actions directed with good intentions to other people and the world around them, is characteristic of all human activity. One of the conditions for maintaining humanity in society is the presence and accumulation of moral and ethical forms of community. The highest manifestation of the personal principle in a person is the ability to live in harmony with the surrounding world, constantly developing and improving, requires true and worthy self-determination based on experience, common sense, on the conviction of the triumph of humanity. "Humanism as a worldview best contributes to the creation of a society of human people" (11, p. 135).

However, despite the not very favorable public atmosphere, Russian humanists believe that our country simply does not have an alternative to humanism. In their opinion, neither religious fundamentalism and nationalism, nor decadent postmodernism are able to offer real ways to improve public life. Contemporary Russian secular humanists, writes V.A. Kuvakin, they will not be doomed to wait for a happy fate, a strong, just and kind ruler, or a "Russian idea" that descended from heaven to finally save Russia. They are convinced that "an active attitude towards oneself and the environment, an active, courageous, creative, independent and viable position can ensure a person's worthy position in society" (11, p. 2-3).

Conclusion

Humanism is traditionally defined as a system of views that recognize the value of a person as an individual, his right to freedom, happiness and development, and declare the principles of equality and humanity to be the norm in relations between people. Western Europe is declared the homeland of humanism in textbooks and encyclopedias, and its roots in world history can be traced back to antiquity.

Among the values of traditional Russian culture, an important place was occupied by the values of humanism (goodness, justice, non-acquisitiveness, the search for truth - which is reflected in Russian folklore, Russian classical literature, socio-political thought).

At present, the ideas of humanism have experienced a certain crisis in our country over the past 15 years. The ideas of possessiveness and self-sufficiency (the cult of money) were opposed to humanism. As an ideal, Russians were offered a “self-made man” - a person who made himself and does not need any external support. The ideas of justice and equality - the basis of humanism - have lost their former attractiveness and are now not even included in the program documents of the majority of Russian parties and the Russian government. Our society gradually began to turn into nuclear, when its individual members began to isolate themselves within the framework of their home and their own family.

The humanistic traditions of Russian society are undermined by xenophobia, which is being strengthened by the activities of many domestic mass media. The distrust of “foreigners” and the fear of immigrants from the Caucasus or the countries of Central Asia among many Russians (at least Muscovites) turned into hatred of huge social groups. After the explosions in Moscow in the fall of 1999, the city was on the verge of pogroms, the victims of which could be not only Chechens, but also Muslims in general. Analytical articles devoted to clarifying the peacemaking essence of Islam or proving that not all the inhabitants of the Caucasus were involved in the terrorist attacks went unnoticed by most of the inhabitants, while nationalist programs on television were available to everyone.

This path of development inevitably leads society to a dead end. Europe and the United States realized this after the Second World War. Europe was shocked by the Holocaust and the extermination of the Roma in Nazi Germany. In the United States, after high-profile protests by the black population in the 1950s – 1960s, the official ideology of “melting-pot” (a melting pot in which all peoples living in the country are melted into a single nation of Americans) was replaced by the ideology of “salad-bowl” (salad bowls , where all peoples are united within one country, but each retains its identity). Russian society must turn to this experience and move away from blind copying of already outdated Western models.

The state can do a lot to preserve the humanistic traditions of Russian society. Free education and medicine prevent the disintegration of Russian society into estates and property groups; their preservation should remain a priority, although this does not meet the requirements of a market economy. A well-thought-out tax policy and a careful attitude towards public sector employees will help to reduce the enormous income gap between representatives of different social groups. An active fight against corruption should contribute to strengthening the idea of justice.

But even if this is not the case, Russian society is unlikely to expect a final disintegration along ethnic or class grounds. Culture and the educational system act as a factor cementing society. For most ordinary Russians, the ideas of the value of human life, justice and equality are inalienable. There are also people serving the poor and shaming the skinheads. The traditions of Russian philanthropy are still alive - even if this charity is not completely disinterested, as, for example, the Triumph Prize established by B. Berezovsky or grants given to scientists. Russian school teachers and university professors have an important cultural mission. For the final elimination of the idea of humanism in Russian society, more than one generation must change. Such a scenario, in my opinion, is not feasible in Russia.

Bibliography

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2. The movement of free-thinkers in capitalist countries at the present stage: Ref. overview. - M .: INION AN SSSR, 1983 .-- 175 p.

3. The movement of free-thinkers: Theory and practice: Ref. Sat. - M .: INION AN SSSR, 1992 .-- 175 p.

4. Devina I.V. Humanism and free thinking: Scientific-analyt. overview. - M .: INION RAN, 1996 .-- 55 p.

5. Common sense: Zhurn. skeptics, optimists and humanists. - M., 1995 - 160 p.

6. Kuvakin V. Your glad and hell: Humanity and inhumanity of man: (Philosophy, psychology and thinking style of humanism). - SPb .; M., 1998 .-- 360 p.

7. Kurtz P. Courage to Become: The Virtues of Humanism. - M., 2000 .-- 160 p. - (Common sense: Journal of skeptics, optimists and humanists; Special issue).

8. Science and humanism - planetary values of the third millennium: Abstracts. international scientific. Conf., SPb., June 14-18, 2000 - M., 2000 .-- 159 p. - (Common sense: Journal of skeptics, optimists and humanists; Special issue).

9. Science and Common Sense in Russia: Crisis or New Opportunities ?: (Materials of the international conference of humanists. - M., 1998. - 274 p. - (Common sense: Journal of skeptics, optimists and humanists; Special issue. ).

10. Desecration of the Mind: The Expansion of Quackery and Paranormal Beliefs in Russian Culture of the XXI Century: Abstracts. to int. symp. "Science, Antiscience and Paranormal Beliefs", Moscow, October 3-7. 2001 - M., 2001 .-- 120 p. - (Bib-ka journal. "Common Sense").

11. Modern humanism: Documents and research. - M., 2000 .-- 141 p. - (Common sense: Journal of skeptics, optimists and humanists; Special issue).

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- 94.50 Kb

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN

Almetyevsk State Oil Institute

Department of Humanities Education and Sociology

on the course: "Political Science"

on the topic: "Ideas of humanism in the modern world"

Completed:

student of group 38-51

Medvedev A.V

Checked:

Ph.D., Associate Professor of the Department of State Education and Science

Sabirzyanova F.R.

Almetyevsk 2011

Introduction.

2. Three stages of humanism ……………………………………………………… 7

3. Ideas of modern humanism …………………………………….….… .. 0

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………… .16

Introduction.

Humanism is the only thing

what is probably left
from those gone into oblivion

peoples and civilizations.
Tolstoy L. N

Humanism is a collective worldview and cultural and historical tradition that originated in the ancient Greek civilization, developed in subsequent centuries and is preserved in modern culture as its universal human basis. The ideas of humanism are accepted and practiced by many people, thereby transforming humanism into a program of social transformations, into a moral force, into a broad and international cultural movement. Humanism offers its own understanding of how you can become a morally healthy and worthy citizen. Humanism pays special attention to the questions of the method, to those tools, using which a person could best learn to know himself, to self-determine and self-improve, to make a reasonable choice.

I chose this particular topic, as it aroused the greatest interest in me, I consider it relevant for our generation. Alas, in modern society, in the modern world, the ideals of humanism remain only in words, but in fact, as we see, everything is different. Today, instead of the ideas of humanism, completely different, more material values are imposed on us, in the understanding of love, law, honor. Most people are content with this principle: "everything is allowed, everything is available." Honor as an internal moral dignity of a person has been replaced by the concepts of glory and greed. Modern man, in order to achieve any personal goals, uses methods in his practice: lies and deception. Modern youth must not be allowed to become a lost generation.

1. General characteristics of the humanistic worldview

The term "humanism" comes from the Latin "humanitas" (humanity), used in the 1st century. BC. the famous Roman orator Cicero (106-43 BC). For him, humanitas is the upbringing and education of a person, contributing to his elevation. The principle of humanism presupposed an attitude towards man as the highest value, respect for the dignity of each person, their right to life, free development, the realization of their abilities and the pursuit of happiness.
Humanism presupposes the recognition of all fundamental human rights, affirms the welfare of the individual as the highest criterion for evaluating any social activity. Humanism is a certain amount of universal human values, ordinary (simple) moral, legal and other norms of behavior. Almost all of us are familiar with their catalog. It includes such specific manifestations of humanity as benevolence, sympathy, compassion, responsiveness, reverence, sociability, participation, a sense of justice, responsibility, gratitude, tolerance, decency, cooperativeness, solidarity, etc.

In my opinion, the fundamental features of the humanistic worldview are as follows:

1. Humanism is a worldview, in the center of which is the idea of man as the highest value and priority in relation to himself reality among all other material and spiritual values. In other words, for a humanist, personality is an initial reality, priority and irrelevant in relation to itself and relative among all the others.

2. Humanists, therefore, assert the equality of man as a material-spiritual being in relation to another man, nature, society and all other, known or not yet known to him, realities and beings.

3. Humanists admit the possibility of genesis, evolutionary generation, creation or creation of personality, but they reject reduction, i.e. reduction of the essence of a person to the inhuman and impersonal: nature, society, otherworldly, nothingness (nothing), obscurity, etc. The essence of a person is an essence acquired, created and realized by him in himself and in the world in which he is born, lives and acts.

4. Humanism, therefore, is actually a human, secular and secular worldview that expresses the dignity of a person, her externally relative, but internally absolute, steadily progressing independence, self-sufficiency and equality in the face of all other realities, known and unknown beings of the surrounding reality.

5. Humanism is a modern form of realistic psychology and human life orientation, which includes rationality, criticality, skepticism, stoicism, tragedy, tolerance, restraint, discretion, optimism, love of life, freedom, courage, hope, fantasy and productive imagination.

6. Humanism is characterized by confidence in the unlimited possibilities of human self-improvement, in the inexhaustibility of his emotional, cognitive, adaptive, transformative and creative abilities.

7. Humanism is a worldview without borders, since it presupposes openness, dynamism and development, the possibility of radical internal transformations in the face of changes and new perspectives of man and his world.

8. Humanists recognize the reality of the inhuman in man and strive to limit its scope and influence as much as possible. They are convinced of the possibility of ever more successful and reliable curbing of the negative qualities of a human being in the course of the progressive development of world civilization.

9. Humanism is considered as a fundamentally secondary phenomenon in relation to humanists - groups or strata of the population that actually exist in any society. In this sense, humanism is nothing more than the self-awareness of real people who understand and strive to take control of the tendency to totalitarianism and domination that is naturally inherent in any - including humanistic - idea.

10. As a social and spiritual phenomenon, humanism is the desire of people to achieve the most mature self-consciousness, the content of which is generally accepted humanistic principles, and to practice them for the benefit of the whole society. Humanism is the awareness of the existing humanity, i.e. corresponding qualities, needs, values, principles and norms of consciousness, psychology and lifestyle of real strata of any modern society.

11. Humanism is more than an ethical doctrine, as it seeks to understand all areas and forms of manifestation of human humanity in their specificity and unity. This means that the task of humanism is to integrate and cultivate moral, legal, civil, political, social, national and transnational, philosophical, aesthetic, scientific, business-sense, environmental and all other human values at the level of worldview and lifestyle.

12. Humanism is not and should not be any form of religion. Humanists are alien to the recognition of the reality of the supernatural and the transcendent, admiration for them and submission to them as superhuman priorities. Humanists reject the spirit of dogmatism, fanaticism, mysticism and anti-rationalism.

2. Three stages of humanism

Humanism as a concept arose in the "axial time" (according to K. Jaspers) and appeared in three expanded forms. One of them was Confucius' moral and ritual gum anism. Confucius had to turn to the human person, i.e. use the means that are necessary to develop a humanistic teaching.

The main argument of Confucius: in human communication - not only at the level of the family, but also at the level of the state - morality is most important. The main word for Confucius is reciprocity. This starting point lifted Confucius above religion and philosophy, for which faith and reason remained the basic concepts.

The basis of Confucius' humanism is respect for parents and respect for older brothers. The family was the ideal state system for Confucius. Rulers should treat their subjects like good fathers of a family, and those should honor them. The higher ones should be noble men and show the lower ones an example of philanthropy, acting in accordance with the “golden rule of ethics”.

Morality, according to Confucius, is incompatible with violence against a person. To the question: "How do you look at the murder of people deprived of principles, in the name of getting closer to these principles?" Kun-tzu replied: “Why, when ruling the state, kill people? If you strive for good, then the people will also be good "

To the question: "Is it correct to answer good for evil?" The teacher replied, “How can you respond with kindness? Evil is answered with justice. " While this does not reach the Christian “love your enemies,” it does not mean that violence should be used in response to evil. Nonviolent resistance to evil will be just.

A little later in Greece, Socrates formulated a philosophical program for the prevention of violence by finding universal human truth in the process of dialogue. It was, so to speak, a philosophical contribution to humanism. As a supporter of nonviolence, Socrates put forward the thesis that "it is better to endure injustice than to cause it," which was later adopted by the Stoics.

Finally, the third form of humanism in antiquity, which was not only common to all mankind, but also, in modern terms, ecological in nature, was the ancient Indian principle of ahimsa - not harming all living things, which became fundamental for Hinduism and Buddhism. This example clearly shows that humanism does not contradict religion at all.

Ultimately, Christianity defeated the ancient world not by violence, but by fortitude and sacrifice. The commandments of Christ are examples of humanity, which can be fully extended to nature. So, the fifth Gospel commandment, which L.N. Tolstoy considers that referring to all foreign peoples, it may well be expanded to "love nature." But, having won and created a powerful church, Christianity turned from the martyrdom of the righteous to the torture of the Inquisition. Under the guise of Christians, people came to power for whom the main thing was power, not Christian ideals, and they somehow discredited the faith in Christianity, helping to turn the eyes of their subjects to antiquity. The Renaissance has come with a new understanding of humanism.

New European humanism is the joy of the flourishing of creative individuality, which from the very beginning was overshadowed by the desire to conquer everything around. This undermined the creatively individualistic Western humanism and led to a gradual loss of confidence in it. A substitution took place in the humanism of the New Time, and it went into individualism, and then into consumerism with socialist and fascist reactions to it. The triumph of aggressive consumer values and violence creates walls between people - visible and invisible, which must be destroyed. But they can be destroyed not by violence, but by rejecting the very foundation, the foundation on which the walls stand, i.e. from violence as such. Humanism can be saved only by non-violence, but not by ritual and not individualism. Both historical forms of humanism were imperfect because they lacked the core of humanity - non-violence. In the humanism of Confucius, the ritual was higher than pity for animals, in the humanism of the New Time, creativity was focused on dominance over nature.

For humanism, individuality is important, because without personal awareness, action is meaningless. The humanism of Confucius enclosed itself in a ritual, and it became necessary to appeal to a person who decides for herself what she needs. But in its fixation on itself, the new European humanism rejected the surrounding being.

Liberation from shackling rituals is beneficial, but without prejudice to morality, from which, in its aggressive consumer permissiveness, the humanism of the modern era moved farther and farther. Western humanism is the antithesis of the Confucian one, but together with the subordination of the individual to social order, it also threw out humanity. There was a substitution of humanism under the influence of the development of Western material civilization, which replaced the humanistic desire to “be” by the aggressive consumer desire to “have”.

M. Heidegger is right that European humanism has exhausted itself in individualism and aggressiveness. But humanism is not only a Western brainchild. Other ways of civilization development are possible. They are laid and preached by L.N. Tolstoy, M. Gandhi, A. Schweitzer, E. Fromm. Heidegger realized that the humanism of the modern era is unacceptable, but what he proposed instead of it, and what Schweitzer formulated as "reverence for life" is also humanism in the sense of humanity, rooted in ancient humanity.

Work description

In this essay, I will try to reveal the topic of modern humanism, its ideas, problems.

1. General characteristics of the modern humanistic worldview ... 4

2. Three stages of humanism ………………………………………………………… 7

3. The ideas of modern humanism …………………………………….….… ..10

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… .16

List of used literature. 17