humanism
/ˈhjuːmənɪz(ə)m
/noun [mass noun]
1A rationalist outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters.The roots of ethnology lay, in turn, in the traditions of natural history, moral philosophy and humanism....
- This has something to do with humanism, and humanist rationality.
- Teaching humanism would be one important step towards ensuring that school education reflects their views.
1.1 (often Humanism) A Renaissance cultural movement which turned away from medieval scholasticism and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought.Renaissance humanism gradually replaced the medieval scholastic tradition from which it emerged....
- Of the forces springing from the European Renaissance, humanism and the influence of classical learning came first.
- If there is any one aspect of the Renaissance that can be said to have been characteristic, that must surely be the movement known as humanism.
1.2(Among some contemporary writers) a system of thought criticized as being centred on the notion of the rational, autonomous self and ignoring the conditioned nature of the individual.Historically, however, this tension has been a highly creative one, helping develop both a more rational humanism and a science of humanity compelled to address the exceptional character of human nature....
- Enlightenment humanism freed the individual from the status quo of natural identity, allowing humanity to reach beyond self, to change rather than simply be.
- The ideology that did most to sustain capitalism was humanism, the belief in man as the free, autonomous origin of history.