HUMANISM AND
ITS ASPIRATIONS
Humanist
Manifesto III
a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933*
2003
Humanism
is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our
ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that
aspire to the greater good of humanity.
The
lifestance of Humanism–guided by reason,
inspired by compassion, and informed by experience–encourages us to live
life well and fully. It evolved
through the ages and continues to develop through the efforts of thoughtful
people who recognize that values and ideals, however carefully wrought, are
subject to change as our knowledge and understandings advance.
This
document is part of an ongoing effort to manifest in clear and positive terms
the conceptual boundaries of Humanism, not what we must believe but a consensus
of what we do believe. It is in
this sense that we affirm the following:
Knowledge
of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis. Humanists find that science is the best
method for determining this knowledge as well as for solving problems and
developing beneficial technologies.
We also recognize the value of new departures in thought, the arts, and
inner experience–each subject to analysis by critical intelligence.
Humans
are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change. Humanists recognize nature as self-existing. We accept our life as all and enough,
distinguishing things as they are from things as we might wish or imagine them
to be. We welcome the challenges of
the future, and are drawn to and undaunted by the yet to be known.
Ethical
values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience. Humanists ground values in human welfare
shaped by human circumstances, interests, and concerns and extended to the
global ecosystem and beyond.
We are committed to treating each person as having inherent worth and
dignity, and to making informed choices in a context of freedom consonant with
responsibility.
Life's
fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane
ideals. We aim for our fullest possible
development and animate our lives with a deep sense of purpose, finding wonder
and awe in the joys and beauties of human existence, its challenges and
tragedies, and even in the inevitability and finality of death. Humanists rely on the rich heritage of
human culture and the lifestance of Humanism to
provide comfort in times of want and encouragement in times of plenty.
Humans
are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. Humanists long for and strive toward a
world of mutual care and concern, free of cruelty and its consequences, where
differences are resolved cooperatively without resorting to violence. The joining of individuality with interdependence
enriches our lives, encourages us to enrich the lives of others, and inspires
hope of attaining peace, justices and opportunity for all.
Working
to benefit society maximizes individual happiness. Progressive cultures have worked to free
humanity from the brutalities of mere survival and to reduce suffering, improve
society, and develop global community. We
seek to minimize the inequities of circumstances and ability, and we support a just distribution of
nature's resources and the fruits of human effort so that as many as possible can enjoy a good life.
Humanists
are concerned for the well being of all, are committed to diversity, and respect
those of differing yet humane views.
We work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil
liberties in an open, secular society and maintain it is a civic duty to participate
in the democratic process and a planetary duty to protect nature's integrity,
diversity, and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner.
Thus
engaged in the flow of life, we aspire to this vision with the informed
conviction that humanity has the ability to progress toward its highest ideals. The responsibility for our lives and the kind of world
in which we live is ours and ours alone.
Philip Appleman,
Poet
Khoren Arisian,
Senior Leader, NY Society for Ethical
Culture
Janet Jeppson
Asimov, Psychiatrist and science writer
Bill Baird, Reproductive rights pioneer
Frank Berger, Pharmacologist, developer of anti-anxiety drugs
Lester Brown, Founder and President, Earth Policy Institute
August Brunsman,
Executive Director, SSA
Matt Cherry, Executive Director, Institute for Humanist Studies
Joseph Chuman,
Ethical Culture Leader
Richard Dawkins, Charles Simonyi professor, University of
Oxford
Riane Eisler,
President, Center for Partnership Studies
Edward Ericson,
Leader Emeritus, Ethical Culture
Roy P. Fairfield, Cofounder, Union Graduate School
Antony Flew, Philosopher
Werner Fornos,
President, Population Institute
Levi Fragell,
President, IHEU
Kendyl Gibbons, President, Unitarian Universalist Ministers
Association
Babu Gogineni,
Executive Director, International
Humanist and Ethical Union
Sol Gordon, Sexologist
Jim Herrick, Editor, the New Humanist
Fran Hosken,
Editor, Women's International Network
News
Stefan Jonasson,
Immediate Past President, HUUmanists
Larry Jones, President, Institute for Humanist Studies
Jone Johnson-Lewis, President, National Leaders Council of
American Ethical Union
Beth Lamont
Gerald Larue, Emeritus professor of biblical history and archaeology, USC
Joe Levee, Board of Director, Council of Secular Humanism
Ellen McBride, Immediate past president, AEU
Lester Mondale, Retired Universalist
minister and HMI and HMII
Henry Morgentaler,
Abortion rights activist
Stephen Mumford,
President, Center for Research on
Population and Security
Bill Murry,
President and Dean, Meadville Lombard
Theological School
Sara Oelberg,
President, HUUmanists
Indumati Parikh, President, Indian Radical Humanist Association
Katha Pollitt,
Columnist, The
Nation
Howard Radest,
Dean Emeritus, Humanist Institute
James F. Randi,
Magician
Larry Reyka,
President, Humanist Society
David Schafer, Research physiologist, US Veterans
Administration (retired)
Eugenie Scott, Executive Director, National Center for
Science Education
James R Simpson, Professor of International Agricultural
Economics, Ryukoku University, Japan
Lyle Simpson, President, Humanist Foundation
Warren Allen Smith, Editor and author
Mathew ies
Spetter, 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, Humanist Institute
Kurt Vonnegut, Novelist
Edward O. Wilson, Professor, Harvard University
Sherwin Wine, Founder and President, Society for Humanistic Judaism
Noble Laureates:
Phillip W. Anderson, Physics, 1977
Paul D Boyer, Chemistry, 1997
Owen Chamberlain, Physics, 1959
Paul J Curtzen,
Chemistry, 1995
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Physics, 1991
Johann Deisenhofer,
Chemistry, 1988
Jerome I. Friedman, Physics, 1990
Sheldon Glashow,
Physics, 1979
Herbert A Hauptman, Chemistry, 1985
Dudley Herschbach,
Chemistry, 1986
Harold W. Kroto,
Chemistry, 1996
Yuan T. Lee, Chemistry, 1986
Mario J. Molina, Chemistry, 1995
Erwin Neher,
Medicine, 1991
Ilya Prigogine,
Chemistry, 1977
Richard J. Roberts, Medicine, 1993
John E. Sulston, Medicine, 2002
Henry Taube,
Chemistry, 1983
E. Donnall
Thomas, Medicine, 1990
AHA Past Presidents:
Edd Doerr, 1995-2002*
Michael W Werner, 1993-1994*
Suzanne I. Paul, 1992
Lyle L. Simpson, 1981-1984
Bette Chambers, 1973-1979
Lloyd L. Morain,
1969-1972, 1951-1955
Robert W McCoy, 1966-1968
Vashti McCollum, 1962-1965
*indicates current board member
Board of Directors:
Melvin Lipman,
president
Lois Lyons, vice president
Ronald W. Fegley,
secretary
John Nugent, treasurer
Wanda Alexander
John Cole
Tom Ferrick
Robert Finch
John M. Higgins
Herb Silverman
Maddy Urken
Drafting Committee:
Fred Edwords,
chair
Edd Doerr
Tony Hileman
Pat Duffy Hutcheon
Maddy Urken
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