La teoría de la relevancia de Sperber y Wilson

The English term “humanism” has its roots in the Italian word umanista, which according to Mann (1996), “was used in fifteenth century Italian academic jargon, to describe a teacher or student of classical literature and the arts associated with it, including that of rhetoric” (p. 1). Mann goes on to write that, “only in the nineteenth century, however, and probably for the first time in Germany in 1809, is the attribute transformed into a substantive: humanism, standing for the devotion to the literatures of ancient Greece and Rome, and the humane values that may be derived from them” (pp. 1-2). This original usage of the term is now referred to as Renaissance humanism and can be applied to anyone who, in the spirit of the Renaissance, believes in the importance of a broad-based, civic-minded education.

In the twenty-first century however, humanism has come to refer to a

philosophy and movement that go beyond simply the revival of classical learning. It now represents a complete worldview or lifestance and is usually associated with explicit atheism. According to the American Humanist Association (2003),

“humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfilment that aspire to the greater good of humanity” (online). The worldview of humanism will be covered in greater detail in Chapter 2 but here, it will be useful to briefly trace the origins of the movement as well as its evolution towards the now dominant secular version.

Modern humanism has its roots in the Ethical Culture movement, which in turn can be traced to the founding of the New York Society for Ethical Culture by

Felix Adler in 1876. Adler’s goal was to initiate a new movement through which individuals could express their religious convictions through humane actions rather than mere church or synagogue attendance (New York Society for Ethical Culture, n.d., online). In the years to follow, similar “ethical societies” were formed in other American cities as well as in the United Kingdom. In 1896, the Union of Ethical Societies, the predecessor body of the British Humanist Association, was formed in London by Simon Coit, a former aide to Adler. Originally, these ethical societies often served as “church-like” organizations complete with a minister and weekly meetings. However, as time passed, these church-like elements were eventually phased out in favour of a more secular organizational model.

This transition from religious humanism to secular humanism can also be seen in the various manifestos published by the American Humanist Association, which had its origins in 1927 as the Humanist Fellowship at the University of Chicago. The original manifesto, now referred to as the Humanist Manifesto I, was published in 1933 and its signatories included a rabbi and numerous ministers, most of whom were Unitarians. The term “religious humanism” is used throughout and it is clear that the intent of the document is to redefine religion rather than replace it. For example, point seven of the manifesto reads, “Religion consists of those actions, purposes, and experiences which are humanly significant. Nothing human is alien to the religious. It includes labor, art, science, philosophy, love friendship, recreation—all that is in its degree expressive of intelligently satisfying human living. The distinction between the sacred and the secular can no longer be maintained” (American Humanist

Association, 1973a, online). In contrast, the use of the adjective religious in front of humanism is dropped in the Humanist Manifesto II, published forty years later in 1973. The overall intent is also noticeably different, as evidence by the following paragraph: “Some humanists believe we should reinterpret traditional religions and

reinvest them with meanings appropriate to the current situation. Such redefinitions, however, often perpetuate old dependencies and escapisms; they easily become obscurantist, impeding the free use of the intellect. We need, instead, radically new human purposes and goals” (American Humanist Association, 1973b, online).

Finally, it is worth noting that the current manifesto, the Humanist Manifesto III, published in 2003, does not include a single reference to religion and was signed primarily by nonreligious individuals.

Perhaps the most important figure when it comes to the secularization of the humanist movement is Paul Kurtz (1925-2012). Referred to by many as the “father of secular humanism,” he founded Prometheus Books (now the dominant atheist

publishing house in the U.S.) in 1969, served as the editor of The Humanist (the flagship magazine of the American Humanist Association) from 1967-1978, and was one of the primary authors of the Humanist Manifesto II. During his time with the American Humanist Association, he helped move the organization towards being more sharply critical of religion but eventually ended up establishing his own more explicitly non-religious humanist organization, the Council for Secular Humanism in 1980 (Center for Inquiry, 2012, online). From 1986-1994, he was also co-chair of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, an umbrella organization for humanist associations and ethical socieities from around the world.

When it comes to the current project, humanism is highly relevent, particularly in its now dominant secular form. Although not all atheists are comfortable with the label humanist and not all humanists are comfortable with the label atheist, the two groups share much in common and this will be explored in depth in Chapter 2.