Table of Contents
Definition of Humanism
(noun) The doctrine that emphasizes the potential and welfare of people through the use of critical thinking and rationality—independent of religious belief or control by supernatural forces.
Examples of Humanism
- Recycling, on the basis that it will be good for humanity.
- Studying sociology to understand how people and society function, which then forms a basis for recommendations as to how to help humanity through applied sociology.
Humanism Pronunciation
Syllabification: hu·man·ism
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /hyOO-muh-niz-uhm/
- British English – /hyOO-muh-ni-zuhm/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈhjuməˌnɪz(ə)m/
- British English – /ˈhjuːmənɪz(ə)m/
Usage Notes
- Plural: humanisms
- Also called: humanitarianism
- A (noun) humanitarian (also called humanist) is an advocate of humanism or (adjective) humanistic views.
Additional Information
- Word origin of “humanism” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Norman, Richard. 2012. On Humanism. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.
- Davies, Tony. 2008. Humanism. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
- Grayling, A. C. 2002. Meditations for the Humanist: Ethics for a Secular Age. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Herrick, Jim. 2005. Humanism: An Introduction. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
- Knight, Margaret, ed. 1995. Humanist Anthology: From Confucius to Attenborough. Rev. ed. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
- Zeitlin, Irving M. 1984. The Social Condition of Humanity: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
- The Association for Humanist Sociology
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.
Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. 6th ed. 2003. Glasgow, Scotland: Collins.
Macmillan. (N.d.) Macmillan Dictionary. (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/).
Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
O’Leary, Zina. 2007. The Social Science Jargon Buster: The Key Terms You Need to Know. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).
Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Humanism
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “humanism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 25, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/humanism/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
humanism. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/humanism/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “humanism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/humanism/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“humanism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/humanism/>.