Humanism is an approach in academic discipline, philosophy or practice. It focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism. Humanism was initiated by secular people rather than by the scholar-clerics who had dominated medieval intellectual life and had developed the Scholastic philosophy. It stresses the unity and compatibility of the truth found in all philosophical and theological schools and systems and emphasizes the dignity of human person. Humanism looks forward to rebirth of a lost human spirit and wisdom. In the course of striving to recover it, however, the Humanists assist in the consolidation of a new spiritual and intellectual outlook and in the development of a new body of knowledge. The effect of Humanism is to help people become free from the mental strictures imposed by religious orthodoxy, to inspire free inquiry and criticism, and to inspire a new confidence in the possibilities of human thought and creations. The spirit of humanism is not contrasted with religious ideals in particular Christian Spirit. Thus this book highlights the importance of the value of humanism practised and propagated by Christianity which is fully committed to human liberation and emancipation. This book is an integration of humanist ethical ideals with religious beliefs which centre on human needs, interests and abilities.
Dr. S. Sekar Sebastin is a Roman Catholic Priest from the Diocese of Trichy, Tamil Nadu. He holds a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Arul Anandar College, Karumathur, Madurai, M.Phil in Philosophy from Annanmalai University, Chidamabaram and a Doctorate in Philosophy from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome. At p t present, he is the Dean of the Department of Philosophy, Sacred Heart Seminary, Poonamallee, Chennai. The area of his interest is Ethics, Philosophical Anthropology, Postmodernism and History of Western Philosophy. Besides many scholarly articles to his credit in different philosophical Journals, he is the author of "Radical Responsibility for the Other-An Ethical Appraisal of Emmanuel Levinas.
St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), the leading Medieval Christian philosopher, declares that the human person is the most perfect in all of nature, subsisting in a rational nature. He holds that the person is not the same as Nature. It is the perfection of who-ness that makes a person. It is this perfection which makes Aquinas to describe as 'that which is most perfect in all of Nature'. It is ironic that what is most perfect in all of Nature is often the cause of what is the most abominable in all of Nature.
Aquinas follows the Greek philosopher Aristotle too in asserting that man/woman is by nature a social animal. Human society is the flowering of human nature. The former expresses this most beautifully in Latin: naturaliter homo homini amicus est (by nature, man is a friend to man). Human being is much more than a social animal who is a being created in the image of the Creator. And that image is the image of a person who is at once intelligent and free. Like God the creator, man/woman is a person who is intelligent and free.
But the person created in the imago Dei loses human dignity in the universe as it is at stake due to incessant human crisis at all levels. We are now living in a world which is constantly losing its spirit of humanness. Anyone who believes in the bright future of humanity is disturbed by the unhealthy atmosphere of the society. The recent terrorist onslaught in Mumbai is a witness for the loss of human centeredness. It exhibits the loss of human sense and human respect is getting deteriorated. The centrality of human interest and human well-being has been drowned in subjectivism and individualism.
For privacy concerns, please view our Privacy Policy
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist